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“380k viewers, 383k, 400k viewers—what does it really matter, honestly, Doc?” Tyler1 said in a video on Twitter. “Streamers of our size? Come on, view count is just a number. But, if you want to get technical, I guess there is one way you could settle this. Why don’t we, I don’t know, arm-wrestle, TwitchCon 2018, to decide? Your move, Doctor.”

Dr Disrespect has since responded by making fun of Tyler1's size compared to his own 6'8 frame, saying he’s not even sure how an arm-wrestling match between the two of them would work. Tyler1, meanwhile, has contended that Dr Disrespect is too old to face him anyway, adding that he doesn’t “know why old people think they can stream on Twitch, honestly.”

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A lot of it is just petty shit-slinging between two exaggerated characters, but it’s yet another example of manufactured drama propelling Twitch stars to new heights. The model’s worked wonders for YouTube stars, and it seems to be seeping further and further into Twitch’s DNA as well. People like taking sides, even when the stakes of a battle are ultimately pretty meaningless, as they are with these numbers. In addition, both Dr Disrespect and Tyler1 have recently benefited from big comeback narratives that demonstrated the monetary benefit of publicly dropping the ball as long as you’re able to put on a performance of reformation in the aftermath.

The kerfuffle also calls the reliability of Twitch’s public stat-tracking into question, both in regards to what Twitch (the website) displays next to streams and what Twitch (the company) says in the aftermath. In this case, fans have taken to distrusting Twitch because they think the company adores Dr Disrespect and wishes Tyler1 wasn’t so successful. During a recent stream, Tyler1 echoed that sentiment.

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“Twitch doesn’t want me to be successful,” he said. “They really don’t! Do they care that I’m successful? No, because it helps them out. But do they wish I never was successful? Yes, for real, yes. Twitch can suck my big black dick.”

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There’s no doubting that Twitch benefits from having unique stars emerge on its platform, but speculation says the company might not want to push Tyler1, whose reputation is closely associated with toxicity and some pretty noxious opinions, as hard as Dr Disrespect, who’s basically a gamer-friendly cartoon character. Granted, with Dr Disrespect’s penchant for racist jokes now making headlines and stirring up debates, we’ll see where all of that goes.

As of now, all Twitch has said is that Dr Disrespect holds the record for most concurrent viewers of a single streamer. I reached out to ask about the ongoing debate as well as Tyler1's exact peak, but as of writing, Twitch had yet to reply.