Zack “Asmongold” Hoyt is back on Twitch after a two-week ban. In a six-hour stream, he talked about his development over the past years and explained how he wants to create his content in the future.
Why was Asmongold gone? The Twitch streamer received a two-week ban due to inhumane statements regarding the Gaza war. In a detailed statement, Asmongold apologized and explained that he had developed in a very negative direction.
He wanted to use the involuntary break to sort out his life and clean up his house.
On October 29, 2024, Asmongold returned to Twitch with a six-hour stream. In it, the streamer regretted some of his statements from the past months – but also made it clear which content he still stands behind.
Asmongold said he had become too nasty in recent years, developing into the worst version of himself.
Asmongold names three instances where he was wrong
Overall, Asmongold explains that his content always develops negatively when he doesn’t take a break for a long time. After a very tough year in 2021, he didn’t take a proper break and used streaming and the work related to it to distract himself from his personal problems, like the death of his mother. However, he continued to slide further down.
He initially perceived his ban as a relief. It made him sit down and think about what he wants to do with his life.
Asmongold says he felt like Frodo at the end of Lord of the Rings when the ring fell into Mount Doom. He finally felt free because of the ban.
Asmongold apologizes for statements about “token woman”
He regrets: Specifically, Asmongold addresses three instances where he behaved wrongly. One of them was his criticism of Twitch streamer Rivers winning “Streamer of the Year”. At that time, he claimed she won against streaming colleagues who deserved the award more because she was a woman.
Now he says: “I was a total asshole, I was completely wrong, I was a massive jerk, I should never have said that.”
He also addresses his reaction to two infidelity scandals that had occupied the Twitch scene. He accused the Vtuber Froot of simply seeking validation for having cheated on her husband when she accused him of domestic violence. He later took the video offline.
Ultimately, he was too harsh on the Twitch streamer Moonmoon, who had an affair with his role-playing partner in GTA 5.
Asmongold believes: He has no problem harming people with his content – but only if he’s right about it.
Some fans are dissatisfied with the change of heart
What do his fans think? In the chat, two camps are clearly emerging: Some viewers joyfully welcome Asmongold back and praise him for his self-reflection. Others, however, seem not to be pleased about this at all. They write that he has succumbed to the “woke mob” and shouldn’t have apologized.
In their eyes, Asmongold was right about everything and is now backtracking to avoid being “canceled.” While Asmongold himself is critically viewing his, as he says, nasty content from the past years, this seems to be exactly the content that this part of his audience wants to see.
These are likely also the type of fans to whom friends of the streamer made a clear statement after his ban.
What will happen next? Asmongold believes his streams have revolved only around one type of content, while he has neglected the content for which people used to watch him. He now wants to change about 20% of his content.
The streamer states clearly: He will not avoid topics and will continue to mock others. However, he wants to be less nasty and pay more attention to the “tone” and the “vibe” of his streams. So it’s not a “completely new era.”
It is also notable what Asmongold did not apologize for. He had participated in the ongoing culture war in the U.S. and criticized the “woke company” Sweet Baby Inc. as well as the indie game Dustborn. Both seem to not be things he regrets. He now wants to stream the new role-playing game of Dragon Age directly at release; it will be interesting since: The press and Metacritic praise Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which will lead to huge conflicts with players
