Today, after recently unbanning viewers who had asked about war crimes (among other things), the U.S. Army is back on Twitch. Now a whole, whole lot of people are asking about war crimes. The Army’s return to Twitch after a month-long hiatus began with a different sort of stream than the channel’s standard, game-centric fare.…
Aim god Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek returned to Twitch today, after a saga that included an exclusive deal with Microsoft-owned streaming platform Mixer last year, Mixer’s sudden demise in June of this year, and a months-long period of uncertainty about where he’d land. He was greeted by hundreds of thousands of viewers. And technical problems. Grzesiek…
Last year, noted man with godlike aiming skills Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek was among a handful of top Twitch stars who shocked viewers by departing the Amazon-owned platform for Microsoft’s Mixer. In June of this year, Mixer suddenly died. Now, after a couple months of silence, Grzesiek is returning to Twitch. Grzesiek spent the past couple…
In June, Twitch permanently banned one of its biggest stars, Guy “Dr Disrespect” Beahm, with no public indication as to why. Today, Beahm streamed for the first time since getting the big, purple boot from Twitch—now on YouTube. He was met by hundreds of thousands of concurrent viewers. And questions. Beahm announced his return yesterday,…
The U.S. Army’s Twitch channel has not streamed in almost a month. After finding itself in the crosshairs of Twitch users and Democratic representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for banning viewers who asked about war crimes and hosting sketchy giveaways, the channel went radio silent. Soon, however, it will return, and previously banned users will have their…
Tyler “Ninja” Blevins is streaming Fortnite’s latest update on Twitch right now, on a stream that’s hovering at over 95k viewers. It’s the popular streamer’s first stream on Twitch since Mixer shut down last month. Ninja is playing with streamer DrLupo. He teased this last night on Twitter, though he didn’t offer any details about…
Of all of Twitch’s non-gaming categories, “Just Chatting” seems to have the most clearly defined purpose. It’s for chatting. That’s it. And yet, after the platform dissolved its ill-defined “IRL” section into 13 different non-gaming categories in 2018, Just Chatting became its catch-all successor. Now it’s a juggernaut—Twitch’s top category. But it’s also clear evidence…
It is, to still somehow understate things, an incredibly difficult time to be a teacher. Around the country, many schools are set to reopen this fall, but with covid-19 case numbers continuing to soar, danger will inevitably lurk in familiar halls. What will happen once class is in session? Will things even get that far?…
You might have had a good weekend—maybe played a video game and then moved to a different part of your home and played another game, because that’s quarantine, baby—but you probably didn’t have as good of a weekend as the developers of Fall Guys. The battle royale party game, which isn’t even out yet, shot…
It’s been a month since the news of Mixer’s closure hit streamers like a Microsoft-branded bag of hammers. At the time, it was heartbreaking. Some spent years building careers, only for the floor to fall out from under them. Today, the platform shuts down for good. Time for one last hurrah, right? Not really. One…
The U.S. Army has dealt with sustained backlash over the past few weeks against its recruitment-oriented Twitch channel, which has banned viewers for asking about war crimes and hosted supposed giveaways that just dumped people out onto a recruitment page (which the Army has since claimed did enter viewers into a competition through other means,…
The U.S. Army and Navy might have different express purposes and a football rivalry, but they’re united in their shared passion for avoiding talk of war crimes. Soon after the Army took flak for banning viewers who asked about war crimes from its Twitch channel, the Navy is employing a similar tactic. Like the Army,…
A few days ago, popular musician Logic, real name Sir Robert Bryson Hall II, retired, saying that it’s time for him to focus on being “a great father.” He must be taking inspiration from people like Ben “DrLupo” Lupo, the daddest man on Twitch, because his post-retirement fatherhood plans now include an exclusive deal with…
The U.S. Army has a Twitch channel that it uses to fish for potential recruits. Last week, it came under fire for issuing bans to viewers who asked about war crimes. This week, a report by The Nation dug deeper, pointing out, among other things, that the channel had a habit of running fake controller…
Right now, if you digitally eavesdrop on any given conversation in the fandom surrounding OfflineTV, a beloved streamer house racked by allegations of inappropriate behavior, you’ll likely find people debating the idea of forgiveness. Should fans forgive faves who’ve fessed up? Can they, given that they’re just bystanders? Over the weekend, OfflineTV, a streamer house…
Today, former top World of Warcraft player and longtime Twitch streamer Byron “Reckful” Bernstein died. Bernstein’s ex, Blue, and his close friend, Andy Milonakis, and posted about him on Twitter. “Byron, I wish I could have helped you,” wrote Blue, saying that Bernstein died by suicide. “We all do. I’m so sorry I couldn’t. Thank…
Today, Twitch temporarily suspended the official channel of Donald Trump, the President of the United States, for hateful conduct. Trump’s account is generally used for online broadcasts of rallies and other events, not Trump’s nascent career as a racist Valorant player. After Twitter accounts that monitor Twitch reported that his channel had been suspended, Twitch…
Earlier this week, Microsoft abruptly announced that its game-centric livestreaming platform, Mixer, is not long for this world. After paying top dollar to scoop up household names like Tyler “Ninja” Blevins and Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek last year, Mixer will be no more as of next month. Suddenly, streamers who’ve staked their careers on the ocean-blue…
Today, out of the blue, Twitch suspended massively popular streamer Guy “Dr Disrespect” Beahm, a ban that multiple sources tell Kotaku is permanent. Initially, people suspected that he’d tripped a wire in Twitch’s increasingly aggressive DMCA detection system, but that does not appear to be the case. Industry insider and journalist Rod “Slasher” Breslau said…
Over the weekend, over 50 people, mostly women, in and around the world of Twitch came forward to accuse streamers and other industry figures, mostly men, of sexual abuse. As the week has progressed, that number has swelled to nearly 100. After the initial wave of accusations, Twitch promised to investigate and potentially take action.…
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