HandOfBlood does the Gronkh, breaks new ground, and alienates old fans in the process

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German content creator HandOfBlood built a career on YouTube with gaming videos, but is now increasingly switching to Twitch. Germany’s veteran Let’s Plays also took exactly this path: Gronkh. Both of them find the new path more fun, but both also see that old fans don’t feel satisfied by the new path.

This is the development at HandOfBlood:

HandOfBlood announced at the beginning of 2024 that it would be shutting down its video production and streaming more on Twitch. Until then, HandOfBlood was known for elaborate YouTube videos in which he often appeared in costume.

Now he’s looking back on 9 months of Twitch: He’s enjoying the new content a lot and wants to stream even more and more regularly. There is talk of daily streams starting October 9th.

But his “old fans” on YouTube feel neglected.

HandOfBlood: The most important things about YouTubers and Twitch streamers in under a minute

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HandOfBlood’s YouTube fans feel neglected

What’s the problem? HandOfBlood says they actually wanted to put a video on the main YouTube channel every month. But HandOfBlood and his team would only have been able to do that for a short time, as long as they were contractually obliged and had to adhere to placement agreements. Then nothing happened on YouTube for three months.

He understands the problem that some of his old YouTube fans no longer feel as engaged by the Twitch content that he uploads to YouTube. There is a difference,

  • whether you speak directly to the fans into the camera, like in a YouTube video.
  • or talking to the Twitch cam facing away from you while you’re playing.

    • HandOfBlood says there was a lot of “friction” with fans, especially on the “HandOfUncut” channel, where he uploads Twitch material to YouTube:

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    Fans criticize: Twitch is too much of a time waster

    These are the reactions to the announcement: In fact, there are some disappointed fans in the comments on the announcement that he wants to do more Twitch. It seems to be primarily a question of time. People would rather watch 20 minutes of high-quality content than watch 6 hours of streams on the side:

  • “Personally, I still like YouTube more. I just don’t have the time to watch streams, you can do it here on YouTube.”
  • “For me, Twitch is nothing at all. It’s just too much of a time-waster for me.”

    • Some comments sound wistful and mourn the old days:

  • “I am and will remain the typical YouTube fan [… ] Personally, I really miss the old days.”
  • “I have to admit, since you’ve almost exclusively streamed, I’ve hardly followed you anymore.”
    • HandOfBlood likes to dress “thematically” to match the games he is currently showing.

    Gronkh’s fans also miss the good old days

    How was it with Gronkh? Gronkh is in exactly the same dilemma, as he made clear in a video from July:

  • The “old fans” want him to make YouTube videos in which he simply plays by himself – i.e. the Let’s Play series with which he became famous
  • But he would rather be on Twitch, interacting with fans and getting feedback from fans while he plays

    • The new content creator meta only uses YouTube for secondary use

    This is what lies behind it: A few years ago, Twitch streamers switched to YouTube in large numbers because the subscription model on Twitch put them under pressure to stream daily so that they didn’t lose Twitch subscriptions.

    YouTube offered a safe haven, just as the platform was luring people with exclusive contracts. On YouTube, content creators could also take a vacation or devote themselves to other projects without having to worry about their income and therefore their livelihoods crumbling away.

    But that has now changed: there have hardly been any exclusive contracts since 2023 and content creators are now using the best of both worlds.

    The “modern form” currently works in such a way that content creators stream live on Twitch and then reuse excerpts from these streams on YouTube. This is cost-efficient and lucrative for you:

  • Most Twitch streams require neither preparation nor follow-up – you either play yourself or react to other people’s content
  • Cutters are responsible for cutting out the YouTube clips from the streams; the streamer himself usually has nothing to do with it
  • This means you can make money on Twitch with subscriptions and at the same time have a stream of videos on YouTube that are fully monetized

    • The most successful US streamers like Asmongold work like this, and in Germany MontanaBlack once explained how incredibly lucrative this model is.

    The disadvantage is: Viewers on YouTube no longer see YouTube videos, but actually only clips from Twitch. They no longer feel like they are watching videos that are made directly for them. You are absolutely right with this feeling.

    But for the influencers themselves, this “casual” content on Twitch in exchange with viewers is much more relaxed and enjoyable than recording lonely YouTube videos and putting a lot of effort and work into them.

    It is precisely this effort involved in preparing and following up the videos that seems to be bothering the content creators. Gronkh said he no longer wants to spend as much time in front of the computer as he used to. The elaborate videos are also too much work for HandOfBlood, as he explained: HandOfBlood says he lacks the passion for complex YouTube videos and now prefers to go live on Twitch almost every day

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