Full name | OTK Media, Inc. | ||||||
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Short name | OTK | ||||||
Founded | October 11, 2020 | ||||||
Based in | Austin, Texas, U.S. | ||||||
Members | |||||||
Partners |
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Website | www | ||||||
Twitch information | |||||||
Channels | Associated channels | ||||||
Followers | 314,654 [1] | ||||||
YouTube information | |||||||
Channels | Associated channels | ||||||
Subscribers | 621,000 (main channel) [2] | ||||||
Total views | 39.8 million (main channel) [3] | ||||||
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Last updated: April 5, 2024 |
One True King (OTK), legally OTK Media, Inc., [5] is an American media organization based in Austin, Texas. [6] The organization primarily focuses on online content creation and has previously competed professionally in World of Warcraft . [7]
One True King, commonly referred to as OTK, was formed on October 11, 2020, by content creators Asmongold, Mizkif, Esfand, Rich Campbell, and Tips Out. [8] In their first video, founding member Asmongold stated, "We came up with this idea of making an org, and building the org around our friends – building the org around friendship in general." [9] The organization has been described by its members as being more of a media production company and lifestyle brand as opposed to being confined to any one game or section on Twitch. [10] [11] The organization has also gained notability for not receiving major backing from corporations as opposed to traditional esports teams. [12]
Alongside the group's initial announcement, the organization unveiled its professional World of Warcraft roster. The original roster consisted of Trill, Mes, Cdew, and Samiyam. [13] The team competed at Blizzard-sanctioned events for one season during the Shadowlands expansion. [14] The group also announced its partnership with Artesian Builds, a pre-built PC company. [15] On October 27, 2020, the organization announced the addition of streamer Nick Polom, also known by his online alias Nmplol, as a content creator and co-owner. [16] In December 2020, OTK partnered with Complexity Gaming's World of Warcraft team in providing coverage of the game's Race to World First event, holding daily roundtable discussions about the race. [17]
On October 11, 2021, on the one-year anniversary of the organization, One True King announced that Cyr would be joining the organization as a content creator. [18] One month later, on November 21, 2021, One True King announced that Tectone would be joining the organization as a content creator. [19]
On January 2, 2022, One True King announced that Emiru would be joining the organization. [20]
On March 2, 2022, One True King announced that they had parted ways with Artesian Builds, following the company's giveaway controversy. [15] One True King won the "Best Content Organization" award at The Streamer Awards on March 12, 2022. [21] On March 27, 2022, One True King announced that BruceDropEmOff would be joining the organization as a content creator. [22]
On July 21, 2022 One True King announced that Sodapoppin would be joining the organization as a content creator and co-owner. [23]
On September 20, 2022, co-owner Mizkif was placed on leave by the group after a series of clips and other content involving him, which included him downplaying an incident of sexual assault, as well as racist and homophobic comments made from 2018 to 2019, came to light. [24] [25] [26] On December 31, 2022, he was reinstated by the group, though he remains suspended from his board related duties as a result of his comments. [27]
On December 16, 2022, co-owner Rich Campbell announced his resignation from the organization in light of sexual assault allegations. [28] On December 23, the official OTK Twitter account announced that Jschlatt would be departing the organization. He will continue as an advisor for the YouTube team and have a stake in Starforge Systems. [29] [30]
On January 24, 2023, BruceDropEmOff left the organization. [31] Three days later, he was indefinitely suspended from Twitch, citing ban evasion. [32] On January 31, 2023, Emiru was announced as a new co-owner of the organization. She was previously in the organization solely as a content creator. It was also announced on the same day that ExtraEmily had joined the organization as a content creator. [33] [34]
On February 5, 2024, One True King announced that WillNeff would be joining the organization as a content creator. [35]
On October 16, 2024, Asmongold announced he was “stepping away” from his leadership roles at OTK and Starforge Systems following backlash over his comments on Palestinians affected by the Israel-Hamas war. [36] [37] [38]
On August 7, 2022, One True King, along with YouTuber and Twitch streamer Cr1TiKaL, announced the founding of Starforge Systems, a technology company focused on building computers [39] that was quickly met with backlash due to the allegedly high prices of their products. [40] The company responded by decreasing their prices by $100. [40] It was also announced that former Artesian Builds COO, now defunct pre-build PC company, Nick Dankner, will be the CEO of the company. [39]
In June 2022, One True King announced a partnership with content production company WePlay Esports as well as the unveiling of a Los Angeles-based content studio. The first event held under the partnership was the "OTK Games Expo", which showcased nearly 30 video games from various indie developers. [41]
In February 2023, One True King announced the founding of Mythic Talent, a full-service talent management company co-founded by OTK members Asmongold and TipsOut with William Lucas, a veteran of esports organization Tempo Storm and the AFK Agency, as the CEO. [42] [43]
On May 17, 2023, One True King announced on Twitter that they're now partnered with GamerSupps, an energy drink company owned by former member Jschlatt. [44] [45]
On June 12, 2023, One True King announced the launch of game publishing company Mad Mushroom during the OTK Games Expo. [46] [47] [48] [49] On August 10, 2023, Mad Mushroom announced the appointment of Mike Silbowitz as its CEO. [50]
OTK Schooled is a quiz game show created and hosted by Twitch streamer and fellow OTK member Mizkif, produced by One True King, [51] that tests the knowledge of its contestants with school-related questions. [52] The game show is frequently compared to the American gameshow franchise Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?. [53] The game show gained popularity because of several cheating controversies that happened during the show. [51] [52]
OTK Game Day is a weekly sports show hosted by Twitch streamer and fellow OTK member Nmplol and One True King, where OTK members go up against other streamers in various physical team-based sports. [54]
On November 9, 2021, Mizkif and One True King announced a new game show called OTK Parasocial, a game show that appears to be in the style of Family Feud , an American television game show, prompting players to “guess the most popular answers to questions.” [55]
In January 2021, the organization's World of Warcraft team participated in the first edition of the Shadowlands Arena World Championship. They finished 3rd among North American teams. [56] At Cup 2, One True King made it to the finals of the North American bracket, losing to Kawhi 1–4. [57] At Cup 3, One True King made it to the semi-finals, losing to Cloud9 0–3. [58] At the fourth and final cup of season one, One True King made it to the quarterfinals, losing to Charlotte Phoenix 1–3. The team finished second in the standings with 300 points, qualifying them for the Regional Circuit Championships. [59] One True King finished the circuit with 8 points, tying for the 3rd place spot in North America with Golden Guardians and advancing them to the Arena World Championship Season 1 Finals. [60] [61] They made it to the semi-finals, losing to Cloud9 and finishing the season in 3rd place. [62] [63]
On June 11, 2021, Cdew announced via Twitter that the organization had decided not to renew the teams' contracts for the upcoming expansion. [64]
One True King has held several charity streams benefiting the non-profit organization Games for Love. Their first charity stream took place on November 23, 2020. Over $250,000 was raised through opening rare Pokémon cards. [65] [66] The stream averaged 70,000 viewers. [67] A second charity stream for Games for Love took place on March 22, 2021, raising $600,000. [68] Their third charity stream took place over two days from June 22–23, 2021, raising $593,597. [69]
In March 2022, One True King held two charity streams benefiting relief efforts for those affected by the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, raising over $500,000. [70]
On April 29, 2023, One True King and fellow OTK member Esfand organized a charity event called Charity Lift-A-Thon, featuring OTK members and other Twitch streamers lifting weights for charity, with a goal of lifting one pound for every dollar donated during the stream. They managed to raise more than $140,601 towards Games for Love. [71] [72]
Year | Ceremony | Category | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2022 | Esports Awards | Content Group of the Year | Nominated | [73] |
2023 | Esports Content Creator of the Year | Nominated | [74] | |
2022 | The Streamer Awards | Best Content Organization | Won | [75] |
2023 | Nominated | [76] | ||
Feb 2024 | Nominated | [77] | ||
Dec 2024 | Pending | [78] |
Jaryd Russell Lazar, better known as summit1g, is an American Twitch streamer and former professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player. After retiring from competitive esports, Lazar became a well-known streamer on Twitch by streaming CS:GO and WarZ. He streams a variety of video games, such as Escape from Tarkov, Grand Theft Auto V, Sea of Thieves, Overwatch, DayZ, iRacing, Foxhole, Hearthstone and Rust.
Thomas Jefferson "Chance" Morris IV, known professionally as Sodapoppin, is an American Twitch streamer and YouTuber. He has one of the largest followings on Twitch, with over 8.7 million followers and over 398.3 million views as of August 15, 2022; he also has over 1.11 million subscribers and over 444.5 million views on YouTube. According to Social Blade, Morris sits at the number 10 spot for the most followers on Twitch; he also ranks number 15 for the largest total number of views on the platform. He is a co-owner of and content creator for gaming organization One True King.
Alexandra Valeria Botez is an American and Canadian chess player, poker player, online streamer and YouTuber. In chess, she holds the FIDE title of Woman FIDE Master (WFM) and has a peak FIDE rating of 2092. She is a five-time Canadian girls' national champion and one-time U.S. girls' national champion. Botez has represented Canada at three Women's Chess Olympiads in 2012, 2014, and 2016. Alexandra and her younger sister Andrea Botez host the BotezLive Twitch and YouTube channels, which each have over 1 million followers and are one of the largest chess channels on each platform.
Ludwig Anders Ahgren, known mononymously as Ludwig, is an American live streamer, YouTuber, podcaster, comedian, esports commentator, and competitor. Ahgren is best known for his live streams on Twitch from 2018 through late 2021, and on YouTube beginning in late 2021, where he broadcasts video-game-related content as well as non-video-game-related content such as game shows and contests. He is also known for his work as an esports commentator at various Super Smash Bros. Melee tournaments. He is the co-owner of the esports organization Moist Esports. He began streaming full-time on February 16, 2019.
Asmongold, also known as ZackRawrr, is an American YouTuber, content creator, and Twitch streamer. His content primarily focuses on World of Warcraft, but he has covered other video games and topics related to gaming culture. He is a co-founder and co-owner of the streaming, gaming, and content creation organization One True King (OTK), based in Austin, Texas. He is also a co-owner of Starforge Systems, a computer company specialized in selling prebuilt gaming PCs. In October 2024, following industry backlash to controversial comments regarding Palestinians, he stepped down from OTK and Starforge Systems.
Hasan Doğan Piker, also known as HasanAbi, is a Turkish-American political commentator, online streamer, and YouTuber. Piker has been described as Twitch's "de facto political commentator", with his streams on the website discussing politics, news, social issues, current events, while also playing a variety of video games. He previously worked as a broadcast journalist and producer at The Young Turks and as a columnist at HuffPost.
Leslie Ann Fu, better known as fuslie, is an American live streamer, YouTuber and musician. She is a content creator for the gaming organization and lifestyle brand 100 Thieves.
Mizkif, also known as Matthew Rinaudo, is an American Twitch streamer and YouTuber. He is a founding member and co-owner of the gaming organization One True King.
Charles Christopher White Jr., better known as Cr1TiKaL, MoistCr1TiKaL, or penguinz0 is an American YouTuber and streamer. He is best known for his commentary videos and live streams covering internet culture and video games. His content is mostly characterized by his monotonous voice, white shirt, deadpan comedic style, and long hair, which has earned him the nickname of "Internet Jesus". In addition, White is the co-founder and co-owner of the esports organization Moist Esports and co-founder and member of the musical duo the Gentle Men.
Sykkuno, is an American YouTuber and live streamer. He is best known for his live streams, which are hosted on Twitch. He also streamed exclusively on YouTube from May 2022 to May 2024.
Maya Elaine Higa is an American conservationist, falconer, wildlife rehabilitator, Twitch streamer, and YouTuber. She is the founder of Alveus Sanctuary, a non-profit exotic animal sanctuary and virtual education center based in Austin, Texas.
Emily Schunk, known professionally as Emiru, is an American online streamer, YouTuber and cosplayer.
Ranboo is an American YouTuber and Twitch streamer primarily known for their Minecraft content. They gained popularity after their inclusion in the Dream SMP and competing in MC Championship. As of September 2024, they have 4.4 million followers and over 100 thousand subscribers on Twitch, making them the 57th most-followed Twitch streamer overall and the 9th most-subscribed Twitch streamer overall.
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Yoo Yoon-jin, better known as Jinnytty, is a South Korean online streamer. Jinny is best known for her in real life (IRL) livestreams on Twitch where she has garnered more than 1,000,000 followers as of March 15, 2024.
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Tim Esfandiari, known online as Esfand or EsfandTV, is an American Twitch streamer and YouTuber. He is a founding member and co-owner of the gaming organization One True King.
Tobias James Smith, known online as Tubbo, is an English Twitch streamer and YouTuber who is primarily known for creating Minecraft content. He is also known for his time in the Dream SMP, an invite-only survival multiplayer (SMP) Minecraft server. As of May 2024, he had 5.2 million followers on Twitch, making him the 43rd most followed streamer on the platform.
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OTK Media, Inc. is an industry-leading gaming influencer network and media company that builds premium digital media content.