For the third year running, the biggest trophy in livestreaming went to the same person. Darren “iShowSpeed” Watkins Jr. was named Streamer of the Year at the 2026 Streamer Awards in Los Angeles on Thursday, Nov. 12. According to Complex‘s Trace William Cowen, Speed also won Best IRL Streamer and Best Streamed Series, the last one for his “World Cup Tour.”
The bigger story for working creators may be what changed behind the scenes: for the first time, streamers could put themselves up for a nomination instead of waiting for fans to do it.
Who else took home hardware
According to Net Influencer‘s Dragomir Stojkov, three other creators also left with three awards each. Kai Cenat won League of Their Own, Best Mainstream Collab with singer Tyla, and Best Streamed Event for the second season of Streamer University. Katie B, who has about 486,000 YouTube subscribers, won Best Breakout Streamer, Best Minecraft Streamer and Best Stream Duo, which she shared with Vanillamace. Vanillamace also picked up The Sapphire Award and Best Dressed.
Jynxzi was named Gamer of the Year, and Red Bull won Best Brand Partner for the second year in a row, per Net Influencer. Complex’s full list shows Ironmouse as Best VTuber, Caseoh as Best Variety Streamer, Quackity with the Legacy Award and Lacy with the night’s Biggest Crashout title. QTCinderella and Caroline Kwan hosted the show, which aired live on Twitch and YouTube.
Creators could apply for the first time
This was the sixth edition of the show and the first to accept applications, Net Influencer reported. In an Aug. 31 post on the Twitch blog, founder and host QTCinderella told creators that until now a nomination depended entirely on their community putting their name forward, and that they could now apply for themselves.
Applicants picked categories, attached a clip for each, and explained why they deserved a spot. Agencies and talent managers could also apply for a whole roster after an approval step. The event’s FAQ says applying is optional and doesn’t guarantee a nomination or a win.
There were minimums. A streamer needed at least 200 hours live between Nov. 8, 2025, and Oct. 1, 2026, and game or genre categories required 100 hours of relevant content. Fan nominations filled out each category, an industry panel added one nominee per category, and winners were decided 70% by viewer vote and 30% by the panel. The panelists aren’t named. A record 1.55 million people voted, according to the Streamer Awards’ X account as cited by Net Influencer.
A reset after a rocky 2025
The changes followed a messy 2025 show. That broadcast set a viewership record, peaking at 965,746 viewers across platforms according to Streams Charts data cited by Net Influencer, but it also drew complaints about on-stage jokes, production mistakes and a judging panel nobody could see. QTCinderella promised an overhaul on a livestream two days later, saying the show had grown much bigger than it used to be.
Categories were reworked too. Last year’s single Best Streamed Collab award, which went to Cenat and LeBron James, was split in two this year: Maya Higa and Adapt won Best Streamer Collab for work between streamers, while Cenat and Tyla took the mainstream-celebrity version.
Not everyone thought Speed should even be in the race. Fellow nominee Joe Bartolozzi argued in October that iShowSpeed had outgrown the Streamer of the Year field and was basically a celebrity now, Net Influencer reported. Bartolozzi, who has about 6.2 million YouTube subscribers, won President of Chat. The Streamer Awards doesn’t plan to publish vote totals, so fans will only ever see the winners.
The takeaway
Awards shows used to be pure fan popularity contests. Letting creators and their managers submit clips and pitch for categories turns a nomination into something closer to a marketing play, one more credential to show brands. For independent creators on any platform, the lesson is the same: track your hours, save your best clips, and don’t wait for someone else to put your name in.
Image: AI-generated illustration.
