Good morning. In light of the Twitch firestorm that’s been growing over the last couple weeks, we’re wondering: Is anyone going to TwitchCon this week?

Let us know what you think of the event or send in tips of what you’d like to see covered.

–Hannah Doyle

Dream Faces Reality

For eight years, the Minecraft gamer has only been seen by his 30 million subscribers in a smiley-faced mask. No one knew what Dream actually looked like–until now.

A whopping 1.3 million people tuned in live on Sunday to watch his face reveal and what we saw wasn’t all too different from other gamers out there–he’s a young white male. “My name is Clay, maybe you’ve heard of me, maybe not,” Dream said in the stream. For those who haven't:

Who is Dream?

He’s among the most popular gamers on YouTube, known for creating whimsical Minecraft content as part of the Dream SMP server, where he and other creators play survival Minecraft and role-play scenarios with loose narratives.

Members of the server, including TommyInnit and Karl Jacobs, have God-like celebrity among fans. Appearances often draw large crowds into the thousands.

Dream’s videos average over 3 million views a week, and the face reveal video amassed 16 million views in under 12 hours.

Why reveal his identity now? Because he wants to be able to meet his online friends IRL. “My goal was to start just doing things, get out, meet creators, say hi to my friends finally. Just get out in the world,” Dream said on the video. “Be an actual creator. Be a person.”

Dream said he probably won’t use a face cam in future content but he will start doing real-life content.

Our Take

Known colloquially as a “faceless YouTuber,” Dream was a kind of a creator who protects their anonymity by never showing their actual face, similar to a VTuber—and it actually worked. The connection he’s grown with his audience is so strong that they’re flexible to change with him—whether he wants to show his face or not. When an audience can accept a creator through the creator’s changes, that’s a sign the community is built for the long haul.

Kai Cenat Rockets Up the Twitch Charts

In the world of streaming stars, we’ve become familiar with the likes of xQc, Pokimane, Hasan Piker, and Ludwig, but in recent weeks a new name has entered the chat: Kai Cenat.

Over the last month, he’s had unprecedented growth on Twitch, and just surpassed 100,000 paid subscribers, solidifying his spot as the most subscribed-to English speaking streamer on the platform.

How he got here:

The New Yorker got his start on YouTube in 2018, and was a founding member of the creator group AMP (Any Means Possible), where they post videos of gaming challenges and pranks. Between the two channels, he has 5 million subscribers.

He started streaming on Twitch in February 2021, and in September, he became one of only three streamers who have over 80,000 paid subscribers. That jumped to 90,000 last week.

His growing popularity has been credited to his energetic personality and recent appearances on chat and dating shows organized by popular streamers such as Adin Ross. He also made a brief appearance on an infamous call between xQc and Andrew Tate.

Though he streams games like Fornite, Fall Guys, and Minecraft, most of his time is spent on Just Chatting.

Our Take

We have a two-parter take for your Tuesday—

On Twitch: Cenat’s surge is generating positive headlines for a platform that needs it. Over the last few weeks, Twitch has been battling a barrage of hits, from creators publicly lodging complaints against the platform to child predation allegations. While they’ve been hesitant to back Cenat for his profanity, it might be time for Twitch to take a W where they can.

On Cenat: A creator’s success on one platform (YouTube in Cenat's case) doesn’t necessarily precipitate their popularity on another. Cenat’s skillset makes for a good streamer—quick, witty, and entertaining. His PR circuit around the platform was well-executed and a strategy we expect more creators to follow.

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YouTube Takes a Swing at Health Misinformation

While most social platforms are taking on misinformation within politics, YouTube is taking a holistic approach, and sees health as part of the larger problem as well.

With the categorization of “personal stories,” they’re creating a differentiator for those parsing between science and subjective anecdotes. When users search for health topics, they’ll see a selection of personal stories related to the topic.

Our Take

While this play may serve up more accurate health information, this also could provide them a competitive edge in search, being a place users might turn to over TikTok for not just facts about health issues, but how to live with those facts.

👀 Creator Moves

• NothingButTech is looking for a part-time assistant editor to help with film production and sound design.

• Mark Rober is hiring for a range of positions to work at Crunch Labs in San Francisco. Pays hourly from $25–50/hour.

• TBNR Productions is looking for a Minecraft video editor passionate about gaming on YouTube and proficient in After Effects.

🔥 Press Worthy

• Johnny Harris wins an Emmy.

• Instagram’s looking for up and coming Latinx and Hispanic creators for its program, Dale Tú. Apply here.*

• The Try Guys release a video statement about removing Ned Fulmer.

• VidCon is heading to the east coast.

• GothamChess launches an educational site for chess classes.

• Enrollment for Creator Now's final bootcamp of the year is open. Use code “PUBLISHPRESS” for 10% off.

• Elliott Choy leaves content group Ur Mom’s House.

• SNL parodies BeReal.

*This is sponsored advertising content.