Adin Ross vs. Kick: every time he threatened to leave, and why he’s still there

Adin Ross has threatened to leave Kick more than once, and he is still its biggest English-language name. The latest chapter: Kick co-founder Eddie Craven flatly rejected an idea Ross floated about paying viewers, and days later Ross’s boxing show passed 1 million concurrent viewers on Kick, according to Win.gg.

The pattern, in order

1. 2023Ross threatens to go to Rumble if Kick does not sign Ricegum.
2. 2024He posts that he is “stepping down” from Kick “officially” and will “fully focus” on getting reinstated on Twitch.
3. Mar 29, 2025Twitch lifts the ban it gave him in 2023.
4. Oct 2025He says Kick capped his viewers at 20,000 and gives the platform a day to fix it.
5. Nov 2025On X he says he will stream with 6ix9ine and Playboi Carti on Twitch, and that doing big streams on Kick is pointless.

Ross said Twitch offered more growth and discoverability, which he claimed Kick was “lacking.” When a user suggested he was trying to renegotiate with Craven, Ross replied that they could not agree on terms. He said he would keep using Kick for game nights, desktop streams and gambling.

October 2026: the “never”

Ross had claimed Kick might start giving viewers cash incentives. Asked on a recent stream when Kick would pay viewers, Craven said Kick would “never” pay viewers. His reasons, per Win.gg:

• The industry already has a viewbotting problem, and paying viewers would make it worse by 500 times.
• He pointed to DLive, which ran a similar program and, he said, had “one of the most negative effects on the community.”
• Kick instead gives out thousands of KICKs “every Wednesday” and emotes.

Craven did acknowledge that paying viewers could grow the platform faster, but called that growth inauthentic.

Then the numbers

Win.gg reported that Brand Risk 16 crossed 1 million concurrent viewers a few matches in, and said Ross is the first English-speaking Kick streamer to do that. It also reported he averaged about 200,000 viewers on Twitch and 500,000 on YouTube while co-streaming. Craven praised the event on X.

Kick’s all-time record is not Ross’s. Tubefilter reported in Oct 2025 that WestCol’s Stream Fighters 4 peaked at 4.6 million concurrent viewers.

Why he stays

Ross has not said why he keeps coming back, and we are not guessing. Win.gg’s writer argued the 1 million night put to rest rumors that Ross was losing momentum, and noted his recent drama with Craven. Per Ross’s own 2025 posts, Kick is still home for game nights, desktop streams and gambling.