Kai Cenat: career, Mafiathon and Twitch records

Kai Cenat is an American streamer, known for his marathon broadcasts on Twitch. His first YouTube video dates from January 13, 2018 and he joined Twitch in January 2021. With Mafiathon 3, in September 2025, he became the first streamer to pass one million active subscribers on the platform. His channel has 21.9 million followers on October 22, 2026, according to TwitchTracker.

At a glance

• Activity: streamer and content creator, Twitch channel “kaicenat”, also present on YouTube.
• Start: first YouTube video on January 13, 2018, Twitch account created on January 27, 2021 (TwitchTracker).
• Subscriber records: over 306,000 at Mafiathon 1 (2023), about 728,000 at Mafiathon 2 (2024), over 1.1 million at Mafiathon 3 (2025).
• Audience on October 22, 2026: 21,895,386 followers and an all-time peak of 1,005,331 concurrent viewers (TwitchTracker).
• Projects and partnerships: UTA (2023), Nike (2024), Fortnite skin (2025), Streamer University (2025 and 2026), Vivet brand (2026).
• Latest step: back on stream on July 6, 2026 on Twitch and YouTube, after a break of about nine months according to the press.

Kai Cenat in 10 dates

Start: from YouTube to Twitch

Kai Cenat posted his first YouTube video on January 13, 2018. His content at the time mixed humor and filmed challenges. In 2020, according to Know Your Meme, he joined AMP, a collective of New York creators active on YouTube.

His Twitch account dates from January 2021: TwitchTracker gives January 27, 2021 as the creation date, and Guinness World Records says he joined the platform that month. He first streamed games and reaction content, then talk streams and month-long marathons with many guests.

Timeline: confirmed dates

Date	Event
January 13, 2018	First video on his YouTube channel.
2020	He joins AMP, a collective of New York creators (Know Your Meme).
January 2021	Joins Twitch.
February 1 to March 2, 2023	Mafiathon 1: 30 days live. He passes Ludwig’s subscriber record.
February 8, 2024	Announces his partnership with Nike live on stream.
November 1 to 30, 2024	Mafiathon 2: about 728,000 subscribers.
May 22, 2025	First edition of Streamer University, at the University of Akron (Ohio).
September 1 to 30, 2025	Mafiathon 3: one million active subscribers on September 28.
December 6, 2025	Four awards at the Streamer Awards, including best marathon stream for Mafiathon 3.
January 13, 2026	YouTube video “I Quit”, which presents the clothing brand Vivet.
July 6, 2026	Back on stream after about nine months, simultaneously on Twitch and YouTube, a first for him (Hypebeast).
July 15, 2026	Start of Streamer University 2026, at Hendrix College (Arkansas).
September 12, 2026	Vivet runway show at New York Fashion Week, spring-summer 2027 collection.
September 26, 2026	First episode of his outdoor series “Exploring the Unexplored”, from Iceland.

This timeline keeps only public, professional facts, confirmed by at least two sources or attributed to the one that reports them.

The three Mafiathons in numbers

The Mafiathon is a month-long live marathon. The press describes it as a broadcast running 24 hours a day for 30 days. Three editions have taken place.

	Mafiathon 1	Mafiathon 2	Mafiathon 3
Dates	February 1 to March 2, 2023	November 1 to 30, 2024	September 1 to 30, 2025
Active subscribers (peak)	over 306,000	about 728,000	one million on September 28, over 1.1 million on September 30
Record broken	Ludwig (over 283,000, April 2021)	Ironmouse (326,252, 2024)	his own Mafiathon 2 record
Hours watched	46 million (Stream Hatchet)	80 million (Dexerto) to 82.8 million (Stream Hatchet)	82.5 million (Influencer Marketing Hub)
Average viewers	66,600 (Stream Hatchet)	118,679 (Dexerto), 119,000 (Stream Hatchet)	130,000 (Les Gens d’Internet)
Peak concurrent viewers	not reported	632,362 (Dexerto), 623,000 (Stream Hatchet)	over one million (Les Gens d’Internet, Influencer Marketing Hub)

Tracking sites sometimes give different values for the same event: read these figures as orders of magnitude. During Mafiathon 3, the concurrent audience passed one million while LeBron James appeared (Tubefilter, Les Gens d’Internet).

Kai Cenat said he would give part of the revenue to a school project in Nigeria: 20% for Mafiathon 2 (Dexerto), 15% for Mafiathon 3 (Les Gens d’Internet).

Streamer University and other projects

Streamer University is an in-person event where established creators train selected participants. The first edition started on May 22, 2025 at the University of Akron (Ohio). It brought together 120 students, chosen from more than a million applications, according to Fast Company. Streams Charts counts more than 26 million hours watched and a peak of 731,300 viewers across all broadcasts.

The second edition started on July 15, 2026 at Hendrix College (Conway, Arkansas), with 120 students according to Streams Charts. At the closing, Kai Cenat announced a 2027 edition in Europe, according to The Source.

Partnerships, fashion and film

In February 2023, Kai Cenat signed with the agency UTA, which represents him in all areas (Tubefilter). On February 8, 2024, he announced a partnership with Nike live on stream. Complex describes him as the first streamer to join the brand. On September 12, 2025, a skin in his name arrived in Fortnite, in the Icon Series (Dexerto, Net Influencer).

In fashion, he presented the Vivet brand in his “I Quit” video of January 13, 2026 (Complex). Vivet showed its spring-summer 2027 collection at New York Fashion Week on September 12, 2026.

In film, he appears in Good Burger 2 (Paramount+, November 22, 2023).

Audience figures with dates

Measure	Value	Date of measurement	Source
Twitch followers	20.2 million	February 24, 2026	Guinness World Records
Twitch followers	21,895,386	October 22, 2026	TwitchTracker
Peak concurrent viewers (all-time)	1,005,331	October 22, 2026	TwitchTracker
Hours watched (channel total)	565,242,160	October 22, 2026	TwitchTracker
Active subscribers, all-time high	1,112,947	October 22, 2026	TwitchTracker
Return stream, Twitch peak	708,563	July 6, 2026	Dexerto, based on tracking sites
Streamer University 2025, peak across all broadcasts	731,300	May 2025	Streams Charts

TwitchTracker’s hours watched cover the whole life of the channel, since January 2021. The all-time peak of 1,005,331 viewers matches the order of magnitude the press reported for the Mafiathon 3 finale.

Awards and distinctions

Kai Cenat received the streamer of the year award at the Streamer Awards of March 11, 2023 (Game Rant). On December 6, 2025, he won four categories: best Just Chatting streamer, best streamed event (Streamer University), best marathon stream (Mafiathon 3) and best streamed collab, with LeBron James. He was also nominated for streamer of the year, a title won by IShowSpeed (Wikipedia, Net Influencer). Guinness World Records lists him for the most followed Twitch channel, with 20.2 million followers on February 24, 2026.

Polish your titles in Photoshop

Do you design titles and visuals in Photoshop? These text effects and actions are in the HYTRAPE shop. They have no link with Kai Cenat.

• Free Chrome Effect : a realistic chrome effect for your text or graphic elements, as a ready-to-use PSD file, with no plugin.
• Glossy Glass Text Effect : a PSD template that applies a “glossy” effect to the text of your choice.
• Text Trasher : a set of Photoshop actions that give your text grunge effects.

All HYTRAPE text effects.

Read next

• Top 10 French Streamers on Twitch: Most-Watched Ranking
• ZEvent 2024: a charity marathon and a moment of solidarity
• 198 million creators by 2030?
• Free Photoshop text effects: 11 PSD files and actions

Sources

• TwitchTracker, KaiCenat, statistiques de la chaîne (relevé du 22 octobre 2026)
• TwitchTracker, KaiCenat, vue d’ensemble (relevé du 22 octobre 2026)
• Guinness World Records, Most followed Twitch channel (20,2 millions au 24 février 2026)
• Stream Hatchet, le Mafiathon 1 (février 2023)
• Stream Hatchet, les marathons de Kai Cenat dont le Mafiathon 2
• Game Rant, annonce du Mafiathon (2 février 2023)
• Tubefilter, le record d’abonnés de Ludwig dépassé (28 février 2023)
• TheGamer, Ironmouse dépasse le record de Kai Cenat (30 septembre 2024)
• Dexerto, le Mafiathon 2 (décembre 2024)
• Complex, le record d’abonnés à la fin du Mafiathon 2 (1er décembre 2024)
• CNBC (via NBC New York), le Mafiathon 2 (2 décembre 2024)
• Net Influencer, un million d’abonnés (29 septembre 2025)
• Tubefilter, le Mafiathon 3 (1er octobre 2025)
• Les Gens d’Internet, le bilan du Mafiathon 3 (3 octobre 2025)
• Influencer Marketing Hub, abonnés de Kai Cenat (mis à jour le 7 octobre 2025)
• Tubefilter, Kai Cenat signe avec UTA (20 février 2023)
• Complex, partenariat avec Nike (9 février 2024)
• Hypebeast, partenariat avec Nike (9 février 2024)
• Dexerto, skin Fortnite Icon Series (19 août 2025)
• Tubefilter, Good Burger 2 (31 octobre 2023)
• Fast Company South Africa, la première Streamer University
• Streams Charts, Streamer University 2026 (17 juillet 2026)
• The Source, bilan de Streamer University 2026 (22 juillet 2026)
• Dexerto, le direct de retour du 6 juillet 2026 (7 juillet 2026)
• Hypebeast, le retour de Kai Cenat (6 juillet 2026)
• IBTimes, le direct de retour sur Twitch et YouTube (7 juillet 2026)
• Complex (via Yahoo), annonce du retour (10 juillet 2026)
• Complex, la vidéo « I Quit » et la marque Vivet (13 janvier 2026)
• Dazed, Vivet à la New York Fashion Week (14 septembre 2026)
• Game Rant, Streamer Awards 2023
• Wikipédia, 2025 Streamer Awards
• Know Your Meme, Kai Cenat (chronologie des débuts)
• Wikipédia, Kai Cenat
• Twitch, chaîne KaiCenat

Updated October 22, 2026. Audiences: TwitchTracker (read on October 22, 2026) and Guinness World Records (February 24, 2026). Events: press cited in the sources.