What are The Streamer Awards 2025?

The 2025 Streamer Awards (the 5th annual edition) are an awards show created by streamer Blaire “QTCinderella” to celebrate excellence in live streaming across Twitch, YouTube and other platforms.

According to the event site and official write-ups, the show:

• Honours the best streamers, communities and live events of the year

• Includes 35 categories covering everything from Just Chatting and esports to VTubers, IRL, music, reality streaming and more

• Is run by streamers, for streamers, with fans playing a central role in who makes the shortlist and who wins

For many viewers, it’s basically the “prom night” of streaming – the one evening where a very online world gets dressed up, walks a physical red carpet and celebrates itself on a big stage.

The Streamer Awards 2025: date, time and where to watch

For 2025, the key details are:

• Date: 6 December 2025

• Time: 3:00 PM PT (which is 11:00 PM GMT for UK viewers)

• Venue: Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles, California

• Host: QTCinderella, plus a second co-host still to be announced

The show will be broadcast live worldwide on QTCinderella’s Twitch channel, with a red carpet segment and live performances before the actual awards.

You don’t need a ticket to follow along – if you can open Twitch, you can watch the entire ceremony.

How nominations work for The Streamer Awards 2025

The 2025 edition has a clearly defined nomination timeline and some new category rules:

• Nominations opened: 25 October 2025

• Nominations closed: 8 November 2025

• Nominees announced: 16 November 2025 on QTCinderella’s Twitch stream

For this year, the organisers:

• Added five new categories:

  • Best Brand Partner

  • Best Marvel Rivals Streamer

  • Best Reality Streamer

  • Best Vertical Live Streamer

  • Best Stream Duo

• Brought back two categories from previous years:

  • Best Music Streamer

  • Best Minecraft Streamer

• Reworked nominations so that each streamer can only appear in their two categories with the highest nomination counts, except in major awards like Streamer of the Year or the Legacy Award.

According to coverage of the shortlist, Kai Cenat leads the pack with five nominations, making him the most-nominated streamer at the 2025 show.

The Streamer Awards 2025 nominations: who’s in the spotlight?

The full list runs across 35 categories, but a few headline sections give a feel for the field. From the published ballot:

• Streamer of the Year nominees include JasonTheWeen, IShowSpeed, ExtraEmily, PlaqueBoyMax and Kai Cenat.

• Gamer of the Year features ohnePixel, Jynxzi, Summit1g, TheBurntPeanut and CaseOh.

• Best Streamed Collab recognises cross-over moments like Pokimane x KATSEYE, Cinna x Zelina Vega, Kai Cenat x LeBron James and PlaqueBoyMax x Fred Again.

• Category-specific awards highlight niches like Best Just Chatting Streamer, Best VTuber, Best Battle Royale Streamer, Best IRL Streamer, Best Strategy Games Streamer, Rising Star Award, Best Breakout Streamer and more.

In total, there are dozens of names from across Twitch, YouTube and other platforms – from long-time giants like xQc, Ninja and Sodapoppin to newer faces like RealKatieB, Vanillamace and 2xRaKai.

Even if you don’t follow every niche, the ballot is a good snapshot of who mattered in streaming this year.

The Streamer Awards 2025 voting: how to take part

If you want your favourite creator to actually win, this is the important part.

• Where to vote:

  • Head to the official Streamer Awards website (thestreamerawards.com) and use the Vote page.

• How voting works:

  • You must log in with a Google or Twitch account to submit a ballot.

  • The voting period runs for two weeks and is open now, closing on Saturday 29 November 2025.

  • You can change or update your vote at any time while voting is open.

• How winners are decided:

  • Fans’ votes “count the most”, deciding the majority of each outcome.

  • A panel of judges contributes 30% of the final result, acting as a balancing voice alongside the public vote.

In short: your vote really does matter, but there is also a curated element to avoid it being purely a popularity contest.

Why is QTCinderella getting backlash about the 2025 nominations?

This year’s nominations have also come with drama and debate, especially around who isn’t on the list.

When the 2025 nominees were revealed, many viewers noticed that Kick-exclusive and Rumble-exclusive streamers were missing entirely, and some accused QTCinderella of deliberately excluding them.

In response, QTCinderella explained on stream that:

• The awards rely heavily on community nominations and voting.

• Some “problematic” creators do have big audiences, but their fans often don’t show up to nominate or vote during these phases.

• As a result, simply being popular or having high viewership doesn’t guarantee a place on the ballot – active communities do.

Her comments sparked a bigger conversation. Streamers like Asmongold argued that controversial creators might also be left off for sponsorship reasons, and he even publicly offered a $100,000 reward if QTCinderella could prove the voting process is fully legitimate and purely based on fan sentiment.

Separate reports also describe how the backlash led to targeted online harassment against QTCinderella, including misogynistic attacks and edited clips, which left her visibly upset during a follow-up stream.

Whatever side you fall on, the controversy has highlighted two truths about The Streamer Awards in 2025:

1. Community engagement is everything – if fans don’t nominate and vote, their favourite creator may simply never appear.

2. The show now sits at a point where creator politics, brand safety and fan culture all collide in a very public way.

Why The Streamer Awards 2025 matter

For viewers, the Streamer Awards 2025 are partly a spectacle – outfits, in-jokes, live performances, red carpet moments. But they’re also a yearly snapshot of who is shaping online entertainment.

• The categories show what kinds of content matter now: vertical live streaming, Marvel Rivals, IRL, reality content and more.

• The voting system reminds everyone that community action, not just numbers on a dashboard, drives recognition.

• The debate around the shortlist is a sign that streaming is no longer a side hobby – it’s an industry where awards, sponsors and public perception all overlap.

If you watch streamers every day, this is the one night of the year that turns that habit into a formal celebration. And if you care who wins, the most human thing you can do is simple: log in, fill out your ballot, and show up for the creators who kept you company all year.