Pokimane reveals “life-changing” YouTube offer she turned down to stay on Twitch

Twitch star Pokimane revealed why she turned down a “life-changing” offer to stream on YouTube during an episode of the Sweet ‘n’ Sour podcast with LilyPichu.

Imane ‘Pokimane’ Anys has been one of the most popular female streamers for almost a decade and has called Twitch her home since she began streaming in 2016.

That almost wasn’t the case, however, as Pokimane explained during her new show with LilyPichu, that she turned down a “life-changing” offer to stream on YouTube exclusively.

When the Twitch star was in talks to sign an exclusivity contract with a streaming platform for the first time, YouTube tried to recruit her.

“It was a big offer,” she said. “I don’t know if I’m ever going to see money like that in my life. My agent then goes to Twitch and they’re like ‘Hey, would you like to counter this offer?’ and Twitch comes back with a counter that’s like… half of what YouTube was offering.”

“I told [my agent] that they’re essentially forcing my hand. Like, I can’t say no to life-changing money like that, especially when the other offer isn’t really comparable.”

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Wanting to stay on Twitch, Poki had her manager get the contact information of a C-level executive at the company. During their conversation, the employee matched YouTube’s offer to Pokimane.

“After some back and forth, they literally go, ‘What’s your number?’ and I didn’t think I would get that far. I just decided to get on the phone, call an executive and hope that they hear me out and they did.

“I did not know business tactics at the time, so I just said something like ‘Well, like, you know, like, I guess if you match YouTube’s offer… that would be really cool.’ And they matched the offer.”

After breaking the news to YouTube that she accepted Twitch’s offer, the Google-owned video site offered her even more money.

“I’m kind of an idiot maybe, because I was like ‘No, no, no. I can’t. I gave them my word.’ I had like, a fixation on honesty… I passed up so much money because I gave someone my word,” she added.

Pokimane’s no longer exclusively streaming on Twitch, however, having revealed the change back in January 2024. She slammed the “messy” platform in a video where she explained she no longer wanted to be “emotionally invested” in Twitch.

She wasn’t the only Twitch star that YouTube went after over the years. TimTheTatman, Dr Lupo, and FaZe Swagg all signed exclusive contracts with the platform in 2021 – but returned back to Twitch in September 2024.