Content creator MoistCr1TiKaL, also known as penguin0, has revealed how much money he's made over the years on YouTube and Twitch. Many people know that creating video or live streaming content can be a very lucrative job for a small percentage of creators, but the numbers are usually speculative. And while some personalities have hinted at the size of their bank accounts, such as Twitch and Kick streamer Amouranth, few have ever been fully transparent.
MoistCr1TiKaL, whose real name is Charles Christopher White Jr., is one of the most popular and longest running characters on YouTube and Twitch. On October 9, he announced that he had turned off almost all monetization of his channels on both platforms, including superchats and donations. While he couldn't stop people from giving away bits on Twitch, he set the minimum amount so high that it should deter most potential donors. The decision was generally met with acceptance or praise, but a small minority, including other high-earning content creators, criticized the move.
Penguinz0 shares his Twitch and YouTube income
Known for being straightforward and honest, MoistCr1TiKaL decided to defend his decision to demonetize by revealing how much money he has made as a content creator over the past two decades. In a YouTube video, he shared that since 2017, when he first started seriously live streaming on Twitch, he's made over $5.5 million from ads and subscriptions. On YouTube, this number is significantly higher. As penguin0, he started his channel in 2007 and currently has over 17 million subscribers. In less than 20 years, he earned almost 36 million dollars. MoistCr1TiKaL points out that these numbers don't include sponsorship deals or other ways to make money related to content creation, even though he donated his first four or five years of YouTube earnings to charity.
Because of these numbers, which MoistCr1TiKaL calls “tremendous amounts of money”, he no longer feels comfortable accepting donations from people. He says his job is incredibly easy and people should use their hard earned money on themselves or charity instead. The vast majority of content creators' income comes from advertising on Twitch and YouTube, the streamer explains, and turning off monetization will cost him roughly $1 million a year, based on his revenue from memberships, super chats and giveaways over the past year on YouTube.
As for other creators who may feel threatened or pressured by this decision, MoistCr1TiKaL emphasizes that he is not trying to make a statement or start a movement by turning off monetization for his Twitch and YouTube channels. He just doesn't feel comfortable personally taking money from hard working people who probably make significantly less money than he does, and he doesn't try to influence anyone to follow in his footsteps.
