Adin Ross starts streaming on Twitch and calls out Kick, criticizing its partner program

It was only just a few years ago that Kick emerged from the shadows, attempting to claim all the big streamers with massive sign-ons. Amongst these streamers was Adin Ross, who quickly left Twitch for Kick, praising the company for its better payouts and more.

However, the streamer is now fighting against Kick, claiming that the company needs to change its partner program. This all comes amidst Kick's heavy drop in viewership and streamers over the last year, as the company had made big changes to their partner program, resulting in many streamers to switch back to YouTube or Twitch.

You know it's bad when a streamer like Adin Ross calls out a company he once praised. Recently, Kick changed its partner program, which was originally created back in 2024. The program was made to give streamers sustainable income rather than requiring them to rely strictly on subscriptions — the latter of which is something no other streaming platform was offering.

However, recently, Kick announced they were making some changes to the system, which would stop rewarding those who cheat using bots. And Adin Ross is now claiming that the changes have dropped his income by 80%.

Some streamers, such as Asmongold, have claimed that their Kick partner program pay has stayed the same, making Adin Ross one of the few major streamers claiming that his has dropped significantly.

"If I can make more money on Twitch and get the mainstream eyes, why would new streamers choose Kick over Twitch, then?" he noted in a recent post on X.

This post comes directly after Adin Ross said he would be streaming more on Twitch, as he feels there is more of an incentive to subscribe there.

Now, the big question is: did he just out himself for viewbotting his streams?

From the start, Kick invested heavily in its streamers, including signing some to $50 million deals. This money came from Stake, a major online gambling company. A significant amount of controversy formed around the idea of high-profile streamers promoting online gambling, as it can lead to serious risks for viewers.

However, many streamers still took the deals despite the criticism. There was also speculation that Kick allowed abusers and openly racist or homophobic individuals to stream on the platform, as many streamers made outrageous comments without facing bans.

Some claimed from the start that this would be the platform's downfall.

A recent study by Streams Charts showed that Kick had a poor third quarter in 2025, leaving it far behind the other major streaming platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, and Twitch.

In fact, the chart below shows that Kick fell nearly 3 billion viewers behind Twitch in the third quarter of 2025. This is notable, as Kick was once touted as Twitch’s potential downfall. However, Twitch itself has struggled compared to TikTok and YouTube, both of which have attracted billions more viewers across their platforms.

With such a decline in viewership, many are questioning how much longer Kick can sustain itself. The bigger question, however, is how long Stake will continue funding the platform. After all, they have already invested substantial sums in these streamer deals.

Just last year, Twitch CEO Dan Clancy revealed that Twitch has never turned a profit and has primarily survived thanks to continued investment from Amazon.

Adin Ross made sure to let his thoughts run rampant on X, as the streamer gave Kick a rundown on what he feels needs to change within the Kick partner program.

"You guys need to redo your outdated KPP then," Adin Ross wrote on X. "There is no [incentive] to subscribe to a streamer on Kick. [Therefore,] KPP is needed for Kick streamers to feel incentives."

While Ross does make outlandish statements at times, this one could prove to be accurate. As one of the biggest streamers in the world, his move to any platform is likely to be successful.

So, what would Ross do differently?

"You need to [create] a tier system where [people] are incentivized to do good content," Adin Ross wrote. "Based on impact, clips, effort, etc., it’ll motivate people to try and grind."

However, all of this means nothing if the creator is botting his streams or cheating, as Kick is taking measures to get rid of those streamers.

"Kick needs a system in place that’s consistent and doesn’t change based off of events that happen outside of [Kick]," Adin Ross added.

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