May is finally behind Twitch. Aside from Alinity’s NSFW incident, April was a relatively drama-free month for the platform. Undoubtedly, the streaming service would’ve liked to continue that trend, but May had different plans. Even though it wasn’t all bad – plenty of streamer slip-ups and drama surrounding the Safety Advisory Council caused new headaches for Twitch this month.
Twitch’s Notorious Safety Advisory Council
This entire subject is a mess. What started as a well-intended project to help include creators in the process of drafting new policies, turned into a fiasco. When Twitch first announced the board, it seemed like a good thing, but it was a little vague. The blog post showcased each member, including the now-infamous streamer FerociouslySteph.
With her new exposure came a fresh wave of Twitch users, and when she exhibited some odd behavior (landing her the nickname “Deer Girl” on Reddit) – trolls started pouring in. It could be argued, however, that Steph is a top-tier troll herself, and that most of Reddit bought it. Regardless, the streamer’s combativeness (mixed with some controversial opinions) brought her some unfortunate negative attention. The worst part of the fiasco, perhaps, is that the newly established council seemed to lose its credibility and purpose.
Luckily, despite mid-May being consumed by the ordeal, the drama fizzled-out pretty quickly. Twitch’s CEO eventually made a statement that didn’t remove Steph from the council – what many called for – but rather, distanced the council’s members from Twitch itself.
Chess Takeover
Perhaps the best occurrence on Twitch this May was the explosion of chess’s popularity on the site. Serving as the anti-VALORANT, this game’s rapid growth on the platform has been nothing but wholesome. Chess Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura has proven that he’s not just one of the best players in the world, he’s a fantastic Twitch streamer too. Between pushing out educational content, showing off his ridiculous brain, and simply reviewing memes/media – his recent jump in popularity (mainly thanks to xQc’s chess lesson) is well-deserved.
Chess itself also earned its place at the top of Twitch throughout May. Many falsely perceive chess to be slow and archaic, easily remedied by online play and Blitz/Bullet match formats. Tournaments are exciting, rivalries are fierce, and – for better or for worse – drama has reared its ugly head in the community.
On top of it all, the Grandmasters aren’t the only ones playing; Forsen and xQc are among the many popular variety streamers who’ve taken up the challenge. Subsequently, Chess.com partnered up with Twitch to host a June tournament called “PogChamps,” plus a larger Twitch Rivals showdown in July. Some big names are set to participate, so keep an eye out for chess on Twitch this summer.
More Slip-ups & Drama
Lastly, Twitch got a nice smattering off what it can’t seem to escape – streamer slip-ups. Some are completely harmless, like Pokimane’s recent email reveal while live. Other times, like when she accidentally pulled up an NSFW video, are not so harmless. The adult video she briefly showed didn’t get her banned, but it did cause its viewership to absolutely skyrocket.
Despite being YouTube-focused, it is worth mentioning that Keemstar vs. Ethan Klein was a huge deal this month. The beef between the two was so big, it affected sponsors on both ends. It started with Ethan’s first “Content Nuke” video which exposed Keem for his controversial behavio and escalated from there. Plenty of Twitch streamers had their opinions, with Mizkif’s taking the cake.
But did Amouranth get banned this month? You better believe Amouranth got banned this month. She was suspended for 24 hours, but considering it had to do with another user’s NSFW profile picture – this one wasn’t her fault at all.
Overall, Twitch had a tougher month this May. If it weren’t for the Safety Advisory Council drama, however, things went quite well overall.
