It used to be every kid’s dream to make a career out of playing video games. It still is. But back then you had to either be an extremely gifted gamer or land the lesser-known job of a game tester. In 2023 though, people are giving up lucrative jobs and television deals just to sit at home and play video games. Professional streamers and gamers are making as much money as A-list celebrities and sports personalities if not more. 

Félix Lengyel, a Canadian gamer known online as xQc, is one of those who make millions of dollars playing the latest AAA games. The streamer, who left behind his professional Overwatch career to stream on Amazon-owned platform Twitch, has become one of the most well-known faces in the gaming community on the back of his sublime skills and loud mouth. A couple of weeks ago, Lengyel ended his exclusivity contract with Twitch to start streaming for a rival platform known as Kick. For this move, the gamer bagged a humble USD 100 million. That’s USD four million more than Lebron James’ two-year contract with the Lakers. Let that sink in. 

There are many more streamers like Lengyel, who log on every day to play games for hours on end while talking to their live chat and dishing out some laughs. They are the new-age entertainers that most kids (and some geeky adults) are watching nowadays. Here are six more Twitch streamers to check out if you enjoy content at the intersection of video games and comedy! 

Ludwig Ahgren 

Ludwig Ahgren’s fans—called Ludbuds by the streamer—eagerly wait to hear the emphatic opening words “Boys!” every morning. Since he began streaming in 2018, the 28-year-old gamer has climbed the ranks to become a Twitch titan. It would be apt to call Ahgren a savant of the streaming world, coming up with new ways to keep his audience engaged across the five years he’s been in the game. 

From Jeopardy! “inspired” (we all know what that’s code for) game shows with high production value, to giving his live chat access to his credit card so they can spend USD 10,000 to decorate his stream room with inflatable dolls and life-size Jackie Chan statues, Ahgren has broken the mould and stepped away from the typical gaming live-stream format. One of his biggest moments came when he did a 30-day stream, making him the most-subscribed streamer on the platform. As a student of improv in college, the streamer is great at “yes-and”-ing with his audience which lands him in some incredibly funny situations (and sometimes at financial risk). Ahgren’s quick quips and physical humour add another layer of likability to his online personality, making him a must-watch.

In early 2021, Ahgren ended his exclusivity contract with Twitch and started streaming on YouTube, but he’s always going to be in the Twitch Streamers Hall of Fame and deserves his spot on this list. 

Moistcr1tikal 

Charles White Jr., better known as Moistcr1tikal on the internet, was streaming way before it became a viable career option. The streamer and YouTuber first ventured into the content creation world as early as 2008, when he was 14 years old, making anime breakdown videos and releasing his Call of Duty game-play. Over the next decade-and-a-half Charlie dabbled in various other formats—racking up 7.8 billion views on his YouTube channel and 60 million views on his Twitch streams—cementing himself as the go-to voice for commentary and reviews about everything pop culture. 

His deep monotone voice coupled with his deadpan sense of humour set him apart from the generally loud and flashy world of streaming. As an English major, the streamer uses his command over the language for colourful descriptions and takedowns, adding to his comedic flair. 

With an incredibly successful YouTube and Twitch channel, a podcast, a gaming company and self-written manga series, the creator has made sure there is no dearth of content for his fans. 

Limmy

It’s no secret that television is dying. The internet is the place to be if you want to make your mark. Established Scottish comedian Brian ‘Limmy’ Limond jumped ship early on in 2010, bringing his comedic voice to the streaming platform. This was new terrain for the TV star who had become a known face after his eponymous show had earned some traction in the United Kingdom. Limmy quickly learnt the ropes, and in three years he had left the television life behind and embraced the online streaming world full-time, which meant he could be himself, on his own schedule, without having to worry about appealing to TV executives.

Limmy has never stuck to the “meta”, or restricted himself to trending games. His off-piste, deadpan humour flourished while playing lesser-known games like American Truck Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator 2, forging his own niche that blends Twitch’s traditional gamer style with his improvised comedy. There’s a charm to how invested he gets in the conversations with his live chat, pausing his game to acknowledge and Google a meandering thought. Limmy’s streams go beyond catering to the website’s core demographic of hardcore gamers. It’s recommended watching for anybody who enjoys a chilled-out conversation with a comedian, almost like an interactive audio-book. 

Dev Lemons 

As a content creator, you have to leverage all the social media channels available to you to boost your reach. Musician Devon Vonder Schmalz, better known by her stage name Dev Lemons, is doing just that on her Twitch channel. But her content is a far cry from the instructional streams musicians produce, which focus on teaching people how to mix or produce a song. Instead, she’s deploying her extremely zany and outlandish humour to give her audience an absolutely unhinged viewing experience. 

She’ll hop on to dating apps (the ones she isn’t banned from yet), get into cute conversations and suddenly drop a text that borders on scary and psychotic. She’ll churn out elaborate texts that put Disney fan fiction to shame. And sometimes the person on the other end reciprocates, giving her something to riff off, and us something to look forward to. When she isn’t busy ruining her dating life, Lemons showcases her musical side, but comedy remains her core lens. She’ll analyse Charlie Puth’s Instagram feed, or sift through the most bizarre TikTok trends. It doesn’t sound like much, but in Lemons’ hands, it makes for great comedic fodder. You gotta see it to believe it. 

Valkyrae

Among Us was a game that took the world by storm during the COVID-19 lockdowns. The video game version of the famous party game Mafia, Among Us gave content creators and viewers hours of content to mine. Streamers loved to play the game, giving us countless laughs as they indulged their inner trolls, threw around baseless accusations, and lied through their teeth. Streamer Rachell Hofstetter, better known as Valkyrae, was one of those who gained quite an audience playing the game. 

Her innocent voice and abysmal poker face resulted in some epic call-outs which ended in her breaking character. Her general lack of gaming skills—which isn’t just limited to Among Us—isn’t the only weapon in her comedy arsenal. Valkyrae dishes out some pretty epic zingers when she’s shooting some sh*t (literally and figuratively) with her friends while playing Valorant and Fortnite. The streamer has climbed the charts over the years to become one of the top creators on the platform, with almost a million subscribers tuning in for her daily ramblings. 

Zanny 

Sometimes gamers take themselves a little too seriously. They get too involved in the efficiency of their build or the ideal route to traverse an open-world game. Twitch streamer and YouTuber Zanny—who has worked very hard to keep his real name under wraps—is here to tell gamers to take a chill pill. He’s playing all the same games—Ghost of Tsushima, Elden Ring, God of War Ragnarok—but instead of mastering the perfect parry and combo, he’s finding hilarious bugs and loopholes to break these games in half. 

A lot of the humour also comes from his constant commentary, which often references the game’s dialogues or surroundings, and his not-so-slick game-play resulting in some side-splitting fails. And if that’s not convincing enough, the streamer has three dogs who amplify every stream’s cuteness quotient by coming to check in on him every time he’s loudly celebrating a victory or mourning a death. 

If you’re looking for a bite-sized window into Zanny’s streaming world, head on over to his YouTube channel where he drops highlights from his longer Twitch VODs.