Streamer Awards 2026: no women in the top race, xQc shut out

Five creators are in the running for Streamer of the Year: Darren “IShowSpeed”, Joe Bartolozzi, Case “CaseOh”, Rani “Stable Ronaldo” and Nicholas “Jynxzi”. Their names came out about three hours into the reveal stream.

IShowSpeed is the familiar face. He won Streamer of the Year at the 2025 show, so he goes in as the defending champion. Each of the others has a vocal fan base, too. One supporter argued Jynxzi deserves it simply for going live almost every day for two years straight, while others are campaigning hard for CaseOh.

Joe Bartolozzi is worth watching. Besides his spot in the top category, he has already picked up a President of Chat vote (that’s the award for the best Just Chatting streamer) from a very famous fellow creator. More on that below.

The loudest complaint is a simple one: there’s no woman on the Streamer of the Year list. Viewers flooded X asking why not a single female creator made the final five, and several named streamers they felt had been robbed.

Kai Cenat is missing from the shortlist as well, which some fans called a bold call by the organizers. Others welcomed the lineup as the most accurate one in years.

Then there’s Felix “xQc”, the French-Canadian streamer who broadcasts on both Twitch and Kick. He landed zero nominations in every category. Reacting live on Oct. 16, he played it for laughs with a royal twist, telling his chat that “the king forgives, but the king does not forget.” He still filled out his ballot, choosing IShowSpeed for Streamer of the Year and Joe Bartolozzi for President of Chat.

Voting is open from Oct. 16 to Oct. 31, 2026, and closes on Nov. 1 in UTC time, which falls on the evening of Oct. 31 for viewers in North America. Ballots are filled in through forms on the official Streamer Awards website, and the vote is open to the public.

A few things to know before you pick your favorites:

• Every category has its own shortlist, from Gamer of the Year to Best VTuber.
• To qualify, creators needed at least 200 hours of streaming between Nov. 8, 2025 and Oct. 1, 2026, plus 100 hours relevant to the category in question.
• Streamers on Twitch, YouTube, Kick and other platforms count, including channels that don’t stream in English.

The earlier rounds are already finished. Creators could apply from Aug. 31 to Oct. 2, and viewers sent in their own suggestions from Sept. 12 to Oct. 2.

For most people, the Streamer Awards are a fun fan event rather than a serious industry trophy. Still, the rules say a lot about how live video works now. A creator on YouTube or Kick is judged right next to a Twitch star, which shows how spread out the audience has become.

The VTuber race shows how heated things can get. TheBurntPeanut is nominated for Best VTuber again, alongside Ironmouse, Koseki Bijou, Crelly and Gigi Murin. He won that award last year and sparked a fight, because he doesn’t consider himself a VTuber, the name for streamers who appear as an animated avatar instead of on camera. Ironmouse publicly brushed off the anger at the time.

The Streamer Awards 2026 ceremony streams live on Nov. 12 at 3 p.m. PT, which is 6 p.m. ET and 11 p.m. in the UK. It airs on Twitch and YouTube, with red carpet interviews, live performances and premieres before the trophies are handed out.

Want your picks to count? Put a reminder on your phone for Oct. 31, because after that the only thing left is the Nov. 12 broadcast.