Kick CEO accuses StableRonaldo and Lacy of major viewbotting
As several top streamers and content creators are being accused of viewbotting across the industry, Kick CEO Eddie Craven has specifically called out ex-FaZe Clan members Rani “StableRonaldo” Netz and Nick “Lacy” Fosco for allegedly inflating their viewership.
FaZe Clan shut down its streaming team unexpectedly, and fans were worried the streamers would face issues as a result. While such a break-up may have been a problem for some smaller streamers, the big ex-FaZe creators have seemingly come out strong on the other side. StableRonaldo even revealed high revenue despite his parting ways with FaZe.
But Eddie Craven has brought those streamers back into the spotlight by claiming that FaZe Clan was viewbotting while specifically naming Lacy and StableRonaldo as offenders.
Eddie alleges FaZe viewbotting as much as 90% of viewership
In his weekly podcast, Kick CEO Eddie Craven again discussed viewbotting, noting that multiple ex-FaZe Clan members had tried to stream on Kick but left because they had significantly fewer viewers there than on Twitch. He went on to allege that the majority of the top FaZe Clan members were using bots to pump up their viewer numbers, claiming that up to 90% of their viewership was inflated.
The Kick CEO specifically highlighted Lacy, who often boasts thousands of live viewers on Twitch, noting that he had approximately 100 viewers while streaming on Kick. He also claimed that StableRonaldo is one of the biggest viewbotters of all top streamers.
Image credit: Kick
This allegation was part of a larger discussion on why Kick doesn’t outright ban every streamer caught viewbotting, as Eddie claimed that “wouldn’t be fair.” The Kick co-founder stated that if the platform starts “blanket banning” everyone, the platform would essentially become empty because botting is so common a tactic.
He also explained that streamers caught viewbotting will claim that someone else used the bots to get them penalized, and that it would be hard to prove otherwise. The Kick CEO further said that if Kick starts banning such creators immediately, the situation might actually worsen, with bad actors using viewbots to get purposefully get rid of some streamers.
Eddie did say that Kick is taking action against viewbots by not paying streamers for the bots.
Online reaction to the situation has been divided, with some appreciating Kick for not paying for bots that are part of viewership. Some questioned whether not banning viewbotting streamers to apparently keep things “fair” is the correct decision, even considering the possibility of streamers being falsely accused of botting their own streams.
Streamer Nicolas “Sneako” Balinthazy, known for his high KCIP earnings, also weighed in on the situation while pushing for Eddie to release more information on the subject. He stated that viewbotters “scam sponsors and also dominate the homepage, collabs, and brand deals” in highlighting the importance of spreading such information. The content creator said viewbotters need to be exposed as they are hurting new streamers who try to make it authentically.
Feature image credit: Lacy, Eddie Craven, StableRonaldo
Khizar Mundia has been playing video games for as long as he can recall. Things have come a long way since the many days he spent playing the original NES, though. He now covers a variety of competitive games and esports, as well as the world of streaming, ranging from Twitch to Kick. If it’s of interest to gamers, it’s of interest to Khizar.
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