Twitchstreamer, internet personality, and formerOverwatchpro Felix “xQc” Lengyel has been temporarily banned from the popular streaming platform, as well as Twitch Rivals events after stream sniping during a recentFall Guysevent. While it doesn’t appear the act was done with ill intent and it ultimately had no impact on the results, stream sniping is in violation of GlitchCon’s player conduct code, though Twitch has beenhistorically criticized for inconsistent rule enforcements.
This is not the first time xQc finds himself in trouble with Twitch. In 2019, he was banned for 72 hours after streaming a video where explicit scenes were edited to be “safe for work.” This year, he was banned for showing nudity on stream whileplaying an adult-themedConnect Fourgame, and again when watching a video of two gorillas having sex.
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The incident results in a temporary ban for xQc’s account, as well as a six-month ban from future Twitch Rivals events. He will also forfeit his prize winnings from GlitchCon. As of right now, Twitch has not specified the length of the account ban, only that it is temporary; which means it could be as little as a few days, or as long as a few months. “We require all participants to abide by the same rules to play in a tournament,” the company said on Twitter. Some xQc fans are worried about the ruling, withDr Disrespect’s Twitch banstill in recent memory.
On November 14, xQc asked his fans to, “Stop defending [me] everywhere for no reason… we shouldn’t of done it and it was wrong,” going on to say that he originally thought it would be funny. It’s possible that coming out in defense of the ruling will end favorably for him, but whetherxQc’s apology for the snipingwill influence the longevity of his ban is still unclear. Only further elaboration from Twitch will end the speculation.
As a streamer, xQc is no stranger to controversy, but this ban begs the question of how far Twitch will allow him to push the rules, especially given he isthe highest-earning streamer in the worldaccording to some reports. Shroud, another big name in streaming, has been particularly vocal in his frustration over xQc’s actions. On stream, he called the incident “unacceptable,” and mentions that “no big partner has ever done this.”
Twitch has a history with rule-bending for its more popular streamers. However, the situation with xQc being clear-cut makes for less complications, leaving only room for speculation as towhyxQc stream sniped DrLupo. It’s possible that this marks a new push to hold everyone equally accountable forTwitch, but it could just as easily be another example of wrist-slaps and quickly moving on.
