LOS ANGELES — The The Streamer Awards 2025 concluded December 6 at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles as fans across the internet awaited the full list of winners. The annual show, hosted by QTCinderella and Maya Higa, honored livestreamers across a wide range of categories — from gaming genres to IRL content, music, collaborations and more.
Here are the confirmed winners from the official list published on the awards site. (The Streamer Awards)
🏆 Key Winners from The Streamer Awards 2025
Major Awards
- Streamer of the Year: IShowSpeed
- Gamer of the Year: CaseOh_
- Legacy Award: Doublelift
- Sapphire Award: Cinna
- Streamers’ Choice Award: JasonTheWeen
🎮 Genre, Format & Specialty Categories
| Category | Winner |
|---|---|
| Best MOBA Streamer | Caedrel |
| Best MMORPG Streamer | Sodapoppin |
| Best Fighting Game Streamer | LilyPichu |
| Best Sports Streamer | Flight23White |
| Best FPS Streamer | TheBurntPeanut |
| Best Battle Royale Streamer | Clix |
| Best Speedrun Streamer | LilAggy |
| Best Minecraft Streamer | Tubbo |
| Best Variety Streamer | CaseOh_ |
| Best Creative Arts Streamer | Emiru |
| Best Roleplay Streamer | Fanum |
| Hidden Gem Award | IJustLovePuzzles |
| Best Reality Streamer | RayAsianBo |
| Best Vertical Live Streamer | KreekCraft |
| Best Streamed Collab | Kai Cenat & LeBron James |
| Best Streamed Series | In the Booth by PlaqueBoxMax |
🎵 Music & Creative Streams
- Best Music Streamer: PlaqueBoxMax
- Best Content Organisation: FaZe Clan
Context & Significance
Founded by QTCinderella in 2022, The Streamer Awards aim to recognise creators across a broad spectrum of streaming content — from hardcore gaming and e-sports to creative, IRL, music, and collaborative works.
The 2025 edition — the fifth annual ceremony — added five new categories this year (e.g., Best Vertical Live Streamer, Best Brand Partner, Best Reality Streamer, Best Marvel Rivals Streamer, Best Stream Duo), reflecting shifting trends in how audiences consume streamed content.
With more than 1 million votes cast during the nomination period, the results underscore how the streaming ecosystem continues to expand and diversify — rewarding not just traditional gaming but creative, musical and collaborative formats.
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🧑🤝🧑 Key Winner Profiles
IShowSpeed — Streamer of the Year (and Best IRL Streamer)
- IShowSpeed’s real name is Darren Jason Watkins Jr. — a U.S.-born streamer from Cincinnati, Ohio.
- He runs one of the largest YouTube channels in the world (gaming, IRL, music), known for high-energy streams, a growing global audience, and viral moments.
- At the 2025 Awards, he earned Streamer of the Year and Best IRL Streamer, signalling his dominance across both traditional streaming and real-life content formats.
CaseOh_ — Gamer of the Year & Best Variety Streamer
- CaseOh_ is a streamer recognized for gaming and variety-style content, blending gameplay with broader entertainment elements.
- He received Gamer of the Year and Best Variety Streamer — reflecting versatility across genres and formats, from competitive gaming to general variety streams.
- His dual win underscores strong audience support and breadth: excelling both in gaming skill (Gamer of the Year) and variety-content appeal.
DoubleLift — 2025 Legacy Award
- DoubleLift (real name Yiliang Peng) is a veteran in competitive gaming and streaming — widely known for his long-time involvement in esports and influence in the gaming community.
- The Legacy Award honours creators whose long-term impact and contributions have significantly shaped the streaming and esports landscape.
- His receipt of the award underscores his enduring relevance and the respect he holds within the streaming/competitive-gaming community.
Cinna — The Sapphire Award
- Cinna is a content creator and streamer; the Sapphire Award is described as recognizing “the best female or marginalized-gender streamer of 2025.”
- Winning the Sapphire Award places Cinna among the most prominent voices representing diversity and inclusion in streaming this year.
- The award signals recognition not just of popularity or viewership numbers, but of cultural influence and impact within the streaming community.
Jasontheween — Streamers’ Choice Award
- Jasontheween was awarded the Streamers’ Choice Award, which reflects peer and community-based recognition rather than a purely metrics-driven award.
- The win indicates strong support from fellow streamers and active engagement within the streaming community — a different kind of prestige compared to viewership-based awards.
- The award highlights the importance of community backing and influence among creators themselves, beyond just audience size.
Here’s a roundup of the most important tidbits, controversies and lingering talk from Streamer Awards 2025 — what stood out, what people are saying, and which issues may reverberate beyond this year’s ceremony.
🔎 What got people talking
• Debate over nominations & perceived “bias”
Ahead of the show, several high-profile streamers publicly criticized the nomination process. Among the loudest voices were Asmongold and Tectone — both questioned why they and other popular creators were excluded from major categories. The gist of their claim: the show allegedly favours those inside certain social / community circles.
In response, the show’s founder and host, QTCinderella, defended the process. She argued that no one is “blackballed” — instead, she said, nominations and wins depend on fan engagement: if a creator’s community doesn’t vote, that streamer has little chance. According to her, lack of fan participation — not favoritism — explains many omissions.
This explanation did little to quell accusations. Critics say the system inherently advantages streamers with large, coordinated, active fanbases — meaning many creators, regardless of quality, are unlikely to get recognition unless their communities mobilize strongly.
• Drama and viral moments overshadow winners
The ceremony wasn’t only about trophies — it featured a few incidents that dominated post-show social media conversation:
- During the show, presenter FanFan made a remark calling popular streamer Kai Cenat “Diddy,” which many viewers found awkward or off-putting. That moment quickly drew backlash and overshadowed parts of the evening.
- Perhaps the biggest controversy: when India Love stormed the stage to contest the award for “Breakout Streamer,” arguing that the win for FaZe Adapt was undeserved — she suggested other nominees (such as DDG and Raki) were more deserving. The protest devolved into boos from the audience, and the clip quickly went viral, becoming one of the most replayed moments of the night.
These incidents — more than jokes or surprise wins — may linger as part of the ceremony’s legacy: illustrating how volatile and emotionally charged streamer communities have become, and how awards can trigger strong reactions.
• Record fan engagement — but also scrutiny over fairness
The 2025 edition of the awards set new participation records. According to publicly shared data, over 1.09 million unique voters had cast ballots by late November.
That said, as critics and some participants note, “popularity contest” remains an apt label. On communities such as r/LivestreamFail, some commenters argue that success at the awards often depends more on being linked to major orgs, friend circles, or coordinated fan efforts — rather than purely on streaming quality or originality. One comment observed:
“Streamer awards is basically a popularity contest. If you don’t have a big audience then yeah it’s going to be hard to win.”
So while participation is high — a sign of the awards’ legitimacy and cultural reach — the structure still reinforces inequalities between large- and small-streamer communities.
• Spotlight back on host — and the toll of organizing
With all the controversy swirling around nominations, protests, and backlash, QTCinderella has found herself under renewed pressure. Some within the streaming community argue that being both the show’s founder and its host places her in a difficult position — balancing fairness, popularity, and community expectations. The fact that drama seems to follow the ceremony each year raises questions about long-term viability, reputation risk, and whether the awards can evolve to address fairness and representation concerns.
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📌 What to watch for going forward
- Whether organizers will tweak the nomination/voting system — for instance, adding more weight to panel votes or creating criteria beyond fan engagement.
- How future hosts and nominees respond to community backlash and calls for greater transparency.
- Whether incidents like on-stage protests become more common, and how they affect public and sponsor perception of the awards.
- How smaller or “outsider” streamer communities adapt: will they mobilize more strongly or lobby for structural change in recognition systems.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions about The Streamer Awards
Here’s a handy FAQ about The Streamer Awards — how it works, who votes, and what to expect.
What is The Streamer Awards?
The Streamer Awards is an annual awards show that honours live-streamers — primarily those on platforms such as Twitch and YouTube — across a wide variety of categories: gaming by genre, creative streams, IRL, music, collaborations, and more.
Who created it and when did it start?
The awards were founded by streamer QTCinderella. The first ceremony covered the 2021 streaming year, and took place in early 2022.
When and where does the 2025 edition happen or happened?
The 2025 ceremony was held on December 6, 2025, at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles. It was hosted by QTCinderella, alongside co-host Maya Higa.
How are nominees and winners selected?
Nominees are selected via online public voting by fans. The winners are then determined through a weighted system combining 70% public (fan) vote and 30% jury/panel vote.
How does voting work — can fans vote multiple times?
Yes — fans can vote through the official website. For 2025, each category allows one vote per day until the voting deadline (for example, until the night before the show). Note: Some categories (e.g., “Breakout Streamer” and “Viral Moment”) are determined only by jury vote, without public voting.
What kinds of categories does The Streamer Awards cover?
A broad range — from genre-specific gaming (MOBA, FPS, Battle Royale, MMORPG, etc.) to creative arts, music, IRL, variety, roleplay, “hidden gem” streamers, collaborations, events, brand partners, and more. The 2025 edition expanded to 35–38 categories — the most in the awards’ history.
What happens during the show?
The show typically consists of two main segments: a red-carpet pre-show (with interviews and arrivals) and the main awards ceremony. The ceremony often features live-streamed content, performances, and reveals of winners.
Who watches the show — is it big?
Yes. Past editions have drawn large audiences. For example, the 2023 edition reportedly peaked at over 645,000 live concurrent viewers.
Where can I find the full list of nominees or winners?
The full nominees and winners lists are published on the official Streamer Awards website.
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