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.…
Over the weekend, a trickle of sexual harassment stories surrounding influential figures in the streaming world grew into a tidal wave. More than 50 streamers, most of them women, shared dozens of stories that have already produced vast reverberations, including the resignation of the head of one of the biggest management firms in all of…
Today, Fortnite’s oft-delayed season-ending “Device” event finally took place, dotting the map with explosions before submerging it beneath the ocean. Over two million viewers tuned in on Twitch to watch the sea consume all, a grim preview of the future that also awaits the popular game map we call “Earth.” This means that Fortnite now…
Rajj Patel is one of the better-known names on Twitch. He hosts the wildest, most popular ongoing reality TV-like shows on the platform, including the Rajjchelor, a low-budget streamer take on The Bachelor, and Rajj Royale, a dramatic debate show. From now on, however, he’s simply going by his real first name: Austin. In a…
Over the weekend, many streamers discovered an unpleasant surprise in their inboxes: an email from Twitch saying they’d received one or more copyright strikes on clips from their streams. If streamers receive three strikes, they risk an indefinite ban. The problem? The offending clips were not recent, but streamers hadn’t received any previous indication that…
With protests raging over the murder of George Floyd and the racist institution of policing in general, Twitch streamers find themselves faced with the same choice as the rest of us: Speak up or stay silent. Difference is, many streamers have audiences numbering in the thousands or even millions. They can make a difference, but…
In the past few days, an alarming headline has made the rounds: “Half of Fox News viewers think Bill Gates is using pandemic to microchip them, survey suggests.” This idea is nonsense, of course, but coronavirus conspiracy theories have spread almost like the virus itself across the meticulously calibrated algorithmic networks of sites like YouTube,…
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