Twitch cracks down on alleged viewbotting with new viewer caps
After Twitch CEO Dan Clancy announced the platform was going to implement viewership caps on creators caught viewbotting, viewers have started speculating that several streamers have been affected as the system has apparently started rolling out.
Viewbotting is a universal problem that all livestreaming platforms are plagued by. Platforms such as Kick and Twitch try to introduce new elements to restrict the abuse as much as possible, but it’s is an issue that is proving difficult to eradicate in full. Kick now allows creators to hide their viewer count, for example.
Twitch had recently announced that it would start to cap the views of streamers that were caught inflating their views. This new system has now rolled out, and viewers believe many top creators have been affected.
Here’s a list of streamers that viewers think are affected by Twitch’s viewership cap
There has been no official announcement by Twitch stating that this new measure against viewbotting has started, but there has been a noticeable drop in certain streamers’ viewership. This has led to a belief in the community that Twitch has implemented viewership caps and started penalizing creators.
Banks
One of the first and most prominent names that is going viral is Richard “Banks” Bengtson, who was recently in the news for launching a financial podcast. His broadcasts reportedly average 40,000 viewers, but this one was apparently capped at roughly 2,000. This is a large drop in viewership, and many viewers even alleged that the streamer typically had 30,000 to 40,000 viewers within 10 minutes of starting a stream. The streamer also ended his stream early, which many speculated may be because of his viewership being limited.
Image credit: mitchjones, Lacy, FaZe Banks
Lacy
Ex-FaZe streamer Nick “Lacy” Fosco, who is now a member of CORE, was also accused of being capped at 8,000. He also reportedly ended his stream early, but some viewers speculated that Lacy may have done this for attention, as the ex-FaZe boys are notorious for such stunts.
mitchjones
David “mitchjones” Mitchell Jones is another big name whose viewership was apparently capped, and the Twitch streamer talked about it in his stream. He said he has 11,000 chatters, while his stream is capped at 3,000 viewers. The streamer even threatened to leave the platform, alleging that he was being used as a “guinea pig because he’s a gambling streamer”.
Cyr
OTK streamer Vincent “Cyr” Cyr is another name that fans believe has been viewbotting, because his recent broadcast was apparently capped at 1,200. This is a significant decline from his usual viewership, but it’s important to note that no official confirmation on the drop in viewership has been made.
Fans are encouraged by the apparent early impact of the system, but it’s too soon to determine whether the shift in viewership reflects a temporary fluctuation or a longer-term trend. The effectiveness of Twitch’s latest efforts to combat artificial viewership will become clearer over time.
Disclaimer: Inclusion in this article does not imply that any creator has engaged in viewbotting.
Feature image credit: Twitch
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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