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Now YouTube’s buying exclusive streamers, starting with CouRageJD

The streaming wars have truly begun

After a few high-profile streamers made the jump from Twitch to Mixer, now it seems YouTube is getting into the exclusivity action, too. Jack ‘CourageJD’ Dunlop, content creator for 100 Thieves, has announced that he’ll soon be streaming exclusively on YouTube Gaming, and reports suggest he’s just one of many streamers who’s been in negotiations for an exclusive platform deal.

CouRage made the announcement just as Shroud, Ninja, and King Gothalion detailed their moves to Mixer – with an announcement video posted to social media. CouRage will remain with 100 Thieves, and all plans seem to generally be the same – he’ll just be on YouTube Gaming instead of Twitch, starting with a debut stream on November 5.

The agency Loaded represents CouRage, as well as Ninja, Shroud, timthetatman, LIRIK, Summit1g, and others. Journalist Rod Breslau reports that “nearly all of Loaded’s clients are in current negotiations with other streamer platforms, most of them with Mixer, or have already signed deals to stay at Twitch.”

So it seems that YouTube and Twitch are looking to sign deals with big streamers comparable to those that Mixer has already gotten. Time will tell how it all turns out – though the early reports suggest that Ninja didn’t have much effect on the Mixer vs Twitch battle.

You can see CouRage’s announcement above.

Better practice your multiplayer games and streaming skills while the giant platforms still have their pockets turned out.