Twitch confirms data breach

Amazon-owned streaming platform Twitch confirmed today that a data breach has taken place hours after initial reports said hackers stole more than 125 GB of information, including Twitch’s source code, channels’ gross earnings, and encrypted passwords.

“Our teams are working with urgency to understand the extent of this,” Twitch said on its official Twitter account. “We will update the community as soon as additional information is available. Thank you for bearing with us.”

It’s unclear at the moment if users’ passwords have been leaked, though, since Twitch hasn’t confirmed that information. For your own protection, it’s better to turn on two-factor authentication if you don’t already use it.

The leak follows a huge blow to Twitch after the streaming platform recently lost big content creators like TimTheTatman and DrLupo to YouTube Gaming, who initiated another episode of the so-called “streaming war.” The leak revealed the alleged earnings that some of the most popular channels on Twitch amassed through August 2019 and October 2021. Big streaming stars such as xQc, summit1g, Tfue, and Asmongold were at the top of the list.

Some streamers said the numbers were correct, while others, like Asmongold, denied it. “It was wrong, for my number,” Asmongold said during his latest New World stream. Later on, he gave an interview to WIRED and expressed his thoughts on Twitch. “It’s harder to fuck up more than this.” 

For now, it’s still too soon to say what the consequences of this leak will be, but this isn’t a good look for Twitch. This article will be updated whenever Twitch issues another statement.