Shroud Loses Subscribers After Switching to WoW Classic
Popular streamer Michael “shroud” Grzesiek recently revealed the consequences of moving from his typical first-person shooter streams to World of Warcraft Classic. While streaming live, one of Shroud’s viewers jokingly mentioned that he lost 5,000 subscribers on Twitch due to the switch. However, Shroud clarified that it wasn’t that many, estimating a loss of 2,000 to 3,000 subscribers.
Shroud explained that he generally doesn’t gain subscribers when playing other games and that it’s normal to lose some subscribers over time. He reached his peak and then experienced a decline, which is common in the world of streaming.
Based on Shroud’s stream, he had slightly over 31,000 subscribers at the time of the clip, which means he lost approximately 10% of his subscribers since starting to play WoW Classic. However, Shroud wasn’t concerned about the decline and instead laughed it off, stating that he had to play WoW anyway.
Considering the regular Twitch partnership deal, where both Twitch and the streamer split the subscription cost, Shroud would have lost at least $5,000. As one of the biggest streamers on the platform, he likely receives a higher percentage of these subscription earnings, further increasing the potential loss.
In late August, Shroud was one of the many Twitch streamers who made the switch to WoW Classic. The game quickly gained popularity on the platform, causing streamers who primarily played other games like Fortnite: Battle Royale to fully commit to Classic. This shift boosted the game’s viewership numbers on Twitch, making it the most-watched title in recent weeks.
Other streamers like Tim “TimTheTatman” Betar, Ben “DrLupo” Lupo, and even Tyler “Ninja” Blevins on Mixer also capitalized on the nostalgia and began streaming WoW Classic, despite the potential impact on their viewership numbers. All of them continue to stream the game, indicating that they’re willing to pay the price in lost subscribers for the enjoyment of playing Classic.
Shroud, streamer, World of Warcraft Classic, Twitch, subscribers, viewership, nostalgia, TimTheTatman, DrLupo, Ninja, Mixer.