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2022 was a big year for Twitch streamers. Not even halfway through the year, the platform has seen huge changes, including well-known streamers leaving the platform, changes to how Twitch’s revenue is shared with its partners, and more.
There’s also been a fair amount of controversy, both in the form of streamer drama and site-wide trends, that may not be in Twitch’s best interest.
In this list, we take a look at the five biggest Twitch streamer controversies of 2022 so far.
The 5 biggest controversies that will hit live streaming platforms in 2022
1) Gambling Streams
In recent months, gambling on Twitch has become one of the hottest topics around the platform, especially since a large portion of Twitch’s audience is made up of minors or resides in areas where gambling is illegal.
This hasn’t stopped big streamers like Trainwreck and xQc from taking large sums of money from gambling websites to promote online casinos in their streams. xQc recently returned to its home country of Canada, apparently to play in its Twitch livestreams again.
Many viewers have criticized these streamers for promoting gambling to children, especially for xQc whose audience is largely made up of underage minors. He has also been accused of selling out as he reversed his previous stance on gambling streams after striking an endorsement deal with Stake.
2) Hot tub streamer bans
Hot tub streamers and bikini streams have been some of the most controversial streams on Twitch in recent years. While streaming has grown into far more than just video games over the years, many agree that whirlpool streams are a bit of a stretch and shouldn’t share the same platform.
In 2021, the debate surrounding whirlpool streams led to it being legitimized on the platform and given its own category on Twitch. However, since 2022, many of these streams have been repeatedly banned.
Streamers SpoopyKitt and SpookyUnagi received bans on their Whirlpool streams, claiming they didn’t get an explanation from Twitch as to why. They also said nothing about their content has changed significantly, making it difficult for them to understand why they were banned.
While Twitch hasn’t specifically responded to this situation, it recently announced that it will give banned streamers more clarity as to the exact reason for their bans.
3) Pokimane vs JiDion
Pokimane, the most popular female streamer on Twitch, suddenly received a surge of hate in her Twitch chat. While the hate she received was annoying, it got worse when she found out it didn’t come from bots but from JiDion’s fan base.
JiDion had instructed his viewers to go to Pokimane’s stream and leave misogynistic comments in their chat. The hate attack initially resulted in JiDion being suspended for two weeks, which eventually turned into a permanent ban.
Ninja became involved in the situation after JiDion approached him, who offered him advice and help to avoid punishment for the situation. This led to drama between Pokimane and Ninja and his wife, who approached Poki via DMs to threaten her with legal action.
Eventually, Pokimane and JiDion met in person to crush the beef and settle their differences. The drama between her and Ninja quickly died down after that.
4) SkyDoesMinecraft
YouTube rapper Adam “NetNobody” started his career as a Minecraft content creator known as SkyDoesMinecraft. He achieved tremendous popularity on the site, amassing over 10 million followers in that time.
After shifting the focus of his content away from Minecraft, his channel’s growth slowed and he received fewer views for his more recent uploads. He had a dedicated fan base for his music and gaming content.
That all changed in January, when NetNobody was accused of sexual assault by his former partner Elizabeth on Twitter. She posted an iCloud document detailing his drug abuse, stealing money from his own company, and being sexually harassed and assaulted by various women.
There was silence on the part of the former Minecraft YouTuber until it was announced that he had put his YouTube channels, including his main channel with 11 million subscribers, for sale on the Internet. This message likely signaled the end of SkyDoesMinecraft.
5) TV meta
While the TV Meta controversy on Twitch has mostly subsided, there is still some debate about it and the overall content of the reaction.
Months before Twitch’s biggest names streamed the Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard trial, they watched TV series. Anime and reality TV series have been a huge hit with the creators and their audiences.
After some time, Twitch took action and banned major streamers like Pokimane and Disguised Toast for violating copyright laws and Twitch Terms of Service.