WillNeff back on Twitch after Pokimane, Rust devs speak up

Olivia Richman Published 19/07/2021

William “WillNeff” Neff is back on Twitch after a day of drama surrounding his ban.

WillNeff was originally suspended on July 17 for streaming with banned content creator Austin “Mr. Wobbles” O’Brien. Twitch called the decision “aiding account suspension evasion.” In response, Mr. Wobbles apologized profusely for his part in WillNeff’s ban, even though WillNeff said that Mr. Wobbles wasn’t at fault.

Mr. Wobbles was originally suspended three years ago, a seemingly permanent ban. In a surprise move, Twitch decided to unban Mr. Wobbles. This made for a surprising ending to an already strange situation.

I’d like to say a huge thank you to @TheWillNeff , he’s literally the nicest person I’ve ever met. I joined the OTV server to make a song request shop video and I would’ve never expected this. Thank you so much everyone ????#freewilly pic.twitter.com/dBmZT7ffkF
— Mr. Wobbles (@mrwobblesmusic) July 17, 2021

Pokimane stands up for Mr. Wobbles, blames OfflineTV for WillNeff ban

Before WillNeff and Mr. Wobbles were allowed back on Twitch, both streamers got in trouble for streaming together while playing on OfflineTV’s Rust server.

Streaming superstar Imane “Pokimane” Anys spoke up about the situation after she heard Mr. Wobbles’ plea to Twitch. After Mr. Wobbles shared his video apologizing to WillNeff, Pokimane expressed that she didn’t feel that Mr. Wobbles was at fault. Instead, Pokimane blamed OfflineTV.

“Why is [Mr. Wobbles] on our Rust server? Because that’s a walking liability to have a banned streamer. That puts everybody in breach of [Twitch’s ToS],” Pokimane explained.

Pokimane went on to say that it was strange that only WillNeff was banned since others were also hanging out with Mr. Wobbles. She also felt hanging out with Mr. Wobbles wasn’t ban-worthy to begin with. She pointed out again that Mr. Wobbles was on a streamer server, repeating that it’s nobody’s fault except possibly OfflineTV’s.

WillNeff unbanned after Twitch is called out by Rust community

It wasn’t only Pokimane who had strong opinions about WillNeff’s ban. Facepunch Studios producer Alistair McFarlane stated that the Rust team was in contact with Twitch on July 17 soon after the ban. Even though WillNeff told fans not to harass Twitch staff during his three-day suspension, it seemed that many people in the community couldn’t sit back and wait. McFarlane said that Twitch’s action felt “extremely inconsistent and targeted.”

McFarlane added that WillNeff’s Rust skin drop would not be made into a generic drop since he was only banned for three days.

“He has provided some of the most memorable and entertaining moments on the server. He deserves any extra visibility Rust Twitch drops brings to his channel,” the producer said.

The unbanning of WillNeff left a lot of people wondering why Rust had so much “power” over Twitch’s decisions. Others noted that Twitch may have been scared of damaging its relationship with Rust and other games and how it would affect the platform in the future.

Olivia Richman

About Olivia Richman

Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.

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