Key Takeaways:

• IShowSpeed’s win highlights the rising affect of Gen Z creators within the digital leisure world.
• The Ohio native has constructed a large following by mixing gaming, hip hop, and viral moments.
• His chaotic, meme-driven fashion alerts a shift in what mainstream streaming success seems like.

IShowSpeed, the famed streamer, athlete and occasional rapper, continues to rack up accolades. On Wednesday (Nov. 19), he was named Streamer of the Year on the Esports Awards 2025.

The Streamer of the Year class was touted as being for the “most distinguished streamer who has raised the standards of streaming and increased the profile of esports across the globe over the past 12 months” in addition to “pushing boundaries of what is possible and providing constant entertainment for a large group of fans…”

The different nominees had been a who’s who of elite streamers, together with ExtraEmily, jasontheween, Kai Cenat, and Plaqueboymax. While he didn’t attend the ceremony in Las Vegas, IShowSpeed did ship a video message to simply accept his honor. “I want to give a huge thanks to everybody who voted [for] me, a huge thanks to my fans and anybody who supported me, I love y’all,” he stated within the pre-recorded clip. “I’ma keep working harder and I appreciate y’all.”

Born Darren Jason Watkins Jr., the 20-year-old definitely met the Streamer of the Year criteria. Back in 2021, the Ohio native began posting on YouTube, livestreaming as he performed video video games like NBA2K. His antics, which might usually spark memes and infrequently result in controversy, earned him thousands and thousands of followers. As of November 2025, he boasts 42.7 million Instagram followers, 44 million TikTok followers, and 45.9 million YouTube subscribers.

Another key to his meteoric rise is IShowSpeed’s knack for melding the worlds of streaming, hip hop music and professional sports activities. Earlier this 12 months, he discovered time to drop music-video”>a number of songs (and corresponding movies) with manufacturing from RIOTUSA of Ice Spice fame. More lately, a viral clip confirmed him playing pick-up basketball with NBA superstar Kevin Durant. However, KD walked off the court docket when IShowSpeed’s suspect basketball expertise included a missed open layup. But it was nonetheless a second.

The annual Esports Awards launched in 2016 to honor the creators and leaders within the gaming trade.