xQc Streamer Spotlight - History, Viewership & Successes
Streaming is a competitive business. There are hundreds of personalities vying for viewers and battling to be the most popular streamers on the internet. There are some that manage to build an empire, though - standing tall and boasting viewerships in the hundreds of thousands. One of these is the ever-popular xQc, who has managed to maintain one of the largest online audiences for the best part of half a decade now and become one of the most-watched streamers on the planet. In this streamer spotlight, we will focus on this legend of live streaming. So who is xQc, where did he come from, how did he get here, and where does he go next?
Who is xQc?
Born in Quebec in 1995, French-Canadian Félix Lengyel has been a behemoth of streaming for some time now. Before choosing to partner up with Kick, he was once seen as the streaming king due to his variety streams regularly pulling in hundreds of thousands of eyes at a time and racking up millions of hours of view time every year.
xQc didn’t always look set to become a full-time professional content creator. As a youth, he was a keen snowsports enthusiast. Snowboarding was a passion of his, and is something he still comes back to with his streams now. He later embarked on a college career before falling into his current line of work, ultimately becoming one of the most popular streamers going. When beginning his current career, he adopted his streaming pseudonym, combining the last letter of Félix with Qc, a shortened version of the province of Quebec. At this point, the young Canadian wouldn’t have been aware of what was to come for him.
What Does xQc Do?
Félix is famous for being a variety content streamer now. While, previously, he focused only on his gaming, with his early League of Legends streams before he pivoted to Overwatch, featuring regularly in Dot Esports headlines for his performances. Over time, and following a semi-hiatus to pursue a career in eSports, his content drastically changed. With his engaging streaming style, the Canadian threw himself into reaction streaming, as well as maintaining a more laid-back gaming side, switching to topical games like Fall Guys and Among Us.
Typical xQc Content
Since leaving the professional gaming world, Félix’s streams have retained some elements of his history in video gaming. He regularly plays games that are popular at the time, as well as picking up some obscure, more novelty titles to play. More recently his content has become more heavily focused on his reactions to other media. In particular, xQc will watch other creators’ content, usually YouTube documentaries, and discuss his feelings on it, adding some of his personality to the mix. However, both of these types of content have brought him his fair share of controversies.
What Equipment Does xQc Use to Stream?
As a content creator, Félix has grown a lot over the years he’s been in the business. From having a ramshackle outfit, xQc now has an elaborate streaming set-up. For his video, he uses a Logitech BRIO 4K webcam - a high-quality camera available for around $200. He records his sound with a $300 Shure SM7B Vocal Dynamic Microphone for crisp audio. Most importantly, though, he uses an AMD Ryzen 9 5950X CPU with an ASUS ROG motherboard and a ROG Swift monitor. All this equipment helps Leyngel create his professional streaming output. If you’re looking to get into streaming with Kick, you can learn more about how to create the ultimate streaming set-up with our guide on how to build your audience.
How Did xQc Become Famous?
Félix started his online streaming career after dropping out of college and suffering a snowboarding injury that left him recovering at home, using his time to broadcast his League of Legends gameplay. That gave him the streaming bug and as he became comfortable with his on-screen persona, he began to branch out into other content by throwing himself into streaming the FPS Overwatch. He found his place in the game as a Tank, using the popular character Winston as his main. This would stick with xQc and is even part of his identity now. His Kick user profile icon is a depiction of the character that helped him build his career. Because of his passion, an esports career beckoned for Lengyel in the Overwatch League.
Professional Overwatch Player
After taking part in some smaller-scale competitions with a number of teams, including DatZit Gaming, it was time for xQc to step into the wider professional gaming world. Denial Esports picked the young Canadian up, signing him to their Overwatch roster. It didn’t last long, though, and the outfit soon disbanded. It was at this point that Félix and his fellow former Denial pros formed their own roster. After impressive showings in Overwatch Contenders, the young man from Quebec was offered the chance to compete in the Overwatch World Cup in 2017 with Team Canada, an opportunity that saw him help the side to the finals, though they would unfortunately be trumped by South Korea.
Following this, interest in Lengyel was high. The Dallas Fuel was his next destination and, despite strong performances and immense popularity on the circuit, a number of controversies would lead to bans, fines, and benchings. Ultimately, this tumultuous couple of years would see Félix struggle with balancing his stream and his Overwatch career. He felt that his content was separate to his professional gaming, but the heads of the League and his franchise didn’t feel the same. This led to xQc leaving the Fuel in 2018 and returning to a full-time streaming set-up. He would, however, go on to represent a number of other outfits sporadically, as well as joining up with Team Canada a number of times. He did join Luminosity Gaming in 2020 as a content creator, but this came to an end early in 2023 with the streamer expressing that there was simply a difference in aspirations between the two parties.
The Most Iconic xQc Moments
With years of streaming behind him and attendance at a number of streamer events, Félix has a catalog of clips that have helped propel him to the stratospheric heights he is currently experiencing. Here are some of xQc’s most iconic moments in streaming.
Discussing Leaving Luminosity Gaming
One of the most recent clips that has kept xQc in the news has been following the announcement that he was to leave the eSports organization Luminosity Gaming. In it, he talked about how grateful he was to work with the outfit and outlined his aspirations going forward.
xQc Slapped With GTA RP Ban
Waiting in the lobby to join a NoPixel server for GTA roleplaying, Félix was unaware of what was to come. When it popped up that he had been banned by the server hosts, his reaction struck a chord and the clip went on to go viral.
xQc Joins Adin Ross IRL Live Stream
Probably one of the most famous moments in the Canadian streamer’s history is the time he joined fellow Kick sensation Adin Ross on his poker stream. The two gambled together, playing poker and catching up. This was following a little bit of a falling out between the two, so it was to the delight of many to see the two working together.
xQc’s Sponsorships & Partnerships
A streamer with an audience the size of xQc’s is always going to be a target for companies looking for brand and sponsorship deals. He has a big deal with Verizon, one of the States’ biggest telecommunications companies. The streamer’s most popular partnership could be his one with GFuel - he even has his own flavor, known as The Juice!
xQc’s Awards
In 2017, his first appearance for Team Canada at the Overwatch World Cup, xQc was crowned the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. That is an impressive achievement for someone making their debut on the biggest stage. Since then, the Canadian has regularly been nominated for Streamer of the Year award at the Streamy Awards. He hasn’t won this gong yet, but has claimed the Just Chatting award. He has also taken home the Best Variety Streamer title at The Streamer Awards.
How to Watch xQc Streams on Kick
If you’ve had your interest piqued by the lowdown on one of the world’s most-watched streamers, you can catch xQc’s regular streams and reaction videos on Kick. Simply sign up for an account and visit the xQc Kick channel where you can find his videos and clips, as well as subscribe to his live content.You can keep up to date with xQc on his socials at Facebook and Twitter, as well as catch up on his curated content on his dedicated Youtube account.
Get More Streaming Tips at Kick Community
Streaming on Kick is a great way of getting your content and personality out there. We have a number of community resources and user stories to help you get started with everything from your streaming set-up, to establishing your gaming content. There are tips on setting up your channel, how to build your follower count, how to maintain and engage your audience, advice from established streaming personalities, information on the latest updates to the streaming platform, and spotlights on our leading content creators.
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