Envy Gaming signs chess streamers Botez sisters

Envy Gaming has announced that the chess streaming duo, Alexandra and Andrea Botez, has signed for the organisation as content creators and streamers.

The Botez sisters' popularity has skyrocketed in 2020, following the sudden growth of chess' popularity, particularly in the online streaming community.

Their Twitch channel boasts 473K followers, while their YouTube channel has over 200,000 subscribers.

The sisters regularly stream chess matches on their Twitch channel but also have other types of content, like lifestyle videos, tips and guides, playing other video games, or simply vlogging.

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They were also commentators for the chess competition series PogChamps, which took place during the summer with some of the biggest streamers partaking, including Ludwig, xQc, moistcr1tikal, and others.

“We want to show people who don’t play chess that it is an exciting game with a vibrant scene," Alexandra Botez explained. "We loved that Envy approached us about building bridges between a competitive environment like chess and the world of esports, music, pop culture, you name it."

(Picture: Envy Gaming)

The sisters are joining Envy Gaming as a part of a creator network and ambassador program, with plans to create various video content, livestream competitions, and more.

“The Botez sisters are the most entertaining creators in chess right now, and they’ve played a major role in popularizing the game on Twitch,” said Andrew Peterman, the chief content officer at Envy Gaming. “Signing Alexandra and Andrea to launch our new Envy creator network is about much more than chess, however. It’s about giving people access to the personalities that represent the future of entertainment.”

The massive rise in popularity of chess in 2020 and the game's strong growth on Twitch are resulting in increased interest amongst esports organisations for this ancient strategy game and its content creators.

Over the last couple of months, more and more esports teams are signing chess streamers and competitors, including grandmaster and streamer Hikaru Nakamura, who has signed for TSM, Cloud9’s chess grandmaster Andrew Tang, and others.