Dendi is taking his streaming talents to Kick as part of a fresh-signed deal that will see the streaming site become the title sponsor of the Dota 2 star’s organization, B8 Esports—and he isn’t the only player making the jump.
Since launching his own esports org in January 2020, Dendi has mostly been relegated to obscurity when it comes to pro Dota. His content, however, has kept him relevant as a top streamer and creator for the game while he continues to try and build a competitive lineup.
Dendi has also remained open about how his org has struggled to remain afloat during Russia’s continued war on Ukraine. This includes losing sponsors and eventually having to swap regions to compete in North America for the 2023 Dota Pro Circuit, where the org managed to stay competitive throughout the season and just missed out on an invite to The International 2023 through regional qualifiers.
Now, heading into a year without the DPC, Dendi has confirmed B8 will be sponsored by Kick, with the streaming platform now listed as the org’s title sponsor across all games it competes in. The legendary player will also be taking his streams to Twitch’s rival site, though it is unclear if there will be any exclusivity.
“The last year and a half have been challenging for B8 and I’m happy that we have a partner that helps us pursue what we love,” Dendi said.
For most big streamers leaping to Kick from Twitch, their contracts don’t include exclusivity, meaning they can continue broadcasting to multiple platforms, with recent changes now allowing for simulcasting too. Since Dendi’s team is now directly sponsored by Kick, however, there could be some part of the deal securing the former TI-winner to stream in green a bit more frequently.
Dendi isn’t the only Dota star to make this decision recently either; Arteezy moved to Kick on Nov. 8, though without any additional bells and whistles regarding sponsorship.
Much like Dendi, this announcement came out of the blue and left most Dota fans mixed on whether they would follow the Shopify Rebellion player’s broadcast on another platform. It resulted in a drastic drop in viewership for Arteezy, where he went from averaging 10,000 viewers on Twitch to under 4,000 on Kick despite swapping between the two.
Dendi averages around 2,500 viewers on Twitch while having over one million followers, according to TwitchTracker. If a similar dip happens, he could see less than 500 viewers turn out for his first handful of streams since he is building up his channel on Kick from nothing.
Dendi will likely share more about his Kick sponsorship and how B8 will bounce back from an early elimination at ESL One Kuala Lumpur qualifiers on-stream.
