Kai Cenat made headlines at The 2023 Streamy Awards held at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, California, for breaking the record for the highest subscriber count on Amazon's Twitch during a non-stop live stream for the entire month of November. The 22-year-old creator rose to popularity over the past two years with live streams focused on comedy, gaming, and pranks.
During his subathon, called Mafiathon 2, Cenat surpassed the previous subscriber record on Twitch, reaching nearly 727,700 subscribers by the end of November and attracting 50 million unique viewers. Twitch subscribers typically pay $4.99 per month for perks like ad-free viewing and exclusive emotes, with Twitch taking a cut of the revenue. Cenat's team did not disclose how much he earned from the subathon, but based on his Tier 1 subscriptions, he may have earned about $3.6 million in revenue.
Cenat's stream doubled the previous Twitch subscriber record set by virtual streamer Ironmouse, highlighting a trend among streamers to use multi-day live streaming events to boost subscriber numbers and earnings. Throughout the stream, celebrity guests like Snoop Dogg, Bill Nye, and Kevin Hart joined Cenat, allowing him to continue streaming overnight uninterrupted.
Despite facing controversy in the past, including being charged with inciting a riot during a New York City giveaway, Cenat has remained popular with a massive following across social platforms. He has committed to donating 20% of the proceeds from subscriptions during the stream to a school he is helping build in Nigeria.
Twitch's popularity has continued to grow, attracting over 105 million active monthly visitors, although Amazon has yet to see the platform turn a profit since acquiring it in 2014. Streaming is seen as the future of content consumption, with industry experts like Amazon Prime's Al Michaels emphasizing its rapid growth and impact on the creator economy.