The Twitch streamer Asmongold was the biggest beneficiary of the hype around WoW Classic in autumn 2019. For three consecutive months, the self-proclaimed WoW nerd held the top position on Twitch. But for more than two months, Asmongold has been absent from Twitch: WoW Classic and the hype around him have taken a toll on the streamer.
His success was massive: The Twitch streamer Asmongold was ranked 5th among the most viewed streamers on Twitch in 2019. Asmongold has been on the platform since 2011, but he has never come close to having as much success as last autumn.
When WoW Classic was huge on Twitch from August to October 2019, Asmongold benefited the most from this hype. In August, September, and October 2019, he was the most watched streamer on the platform.
In September 2019, at the height of the hype around WoW Classic, he was twice as big as the second-placed streamer, the German MontanaBlack. Asmongold had an average of over 60,000 viewers wanting to see him play WoW Classic.
Asmongold has been away from Twitch since December
What happened then? Already in November, it was noticeable that Asmongold was no longer interested in WoW Classic.
Asmongold abruptly stopped streaming in mid-December. The break was not announced.
He actually said, “I’ll be back tomorrow, as usual,” which turned into “I’m not really feeling it today,” “I might play normal WoW or another game tomorrow,” and finally “I’m taking a break, maybe I’ll be gone for a week.”
That was on December 15, and Asmongold, the biggest Twitch streamer for WoW, has not been seen on the platform for more than 2 months.
Asmongold is not completely off the map; he’s still tweeting, but he’s not visible on Twitch anymore.
This is what Asmongold says now: He makes it clear in a video why he took this break. He says:
- He doesn’t need money anymore. He appreciates the money he earns from streams, but – to be honest – he doesn’t need it anymore.
- The huge attention he received from the growth made him feel the need to put on a facade.
- When he said what was on his mind, as is his way, it would have offended people, and they would have gotten upset with him.
- Asmongold felt “controlled” and uncomfortable, no longer like himself.
- Furthermore, there was a lot of drama around WoW Classic, which sometimes felt like a “reality TV” show.
This was the problem: Asmongold says that on this wave of success, he somewhat lost himself. He started doing things to achieve a certain effect, to deliver a show. In the end, he no longer felt comfortable with his own stream.
Now he wants to distance himself from WoW Classic, play retail WoW again, and do things that “fill him creatively.”
Esfand believes: Twitch fans drove Asmongold away
How others see it: Another big Twitch streamer for WoW, Esfand, blames the Twitch fans for Asmongold’s break.
You could hardly read anything positive about Asmongold during that time. It can weigh on someone when there’s so much negativity.
If you’re streaming in front of 60,000 people and feel like: They all hate me, that would weigh on anyone. Asmongold surely has fans, but they are often not as loud as the haters.
This is what lies behind it: Asmongold was involved in some conflicts during the heyday of WoW Classic, partly because purist fans of WoW Classic rejected the idea of “there are streamers in our game” from the outset.
It was then said that Asmongold was playing WoW Classic wrong. Because he let his fans gift him gold – some rejected that.
Asmongold, as the biggest streamer, came under scrutiny. There was, for example, a player who set out to stalk and take him down. There were repeatedly attacks and negative discussions around the streamer. Obviously, that was too much for him.
The curse of being #1
Some streamers who have temporarily or for an extended period been “#1 on Twitch” have not coped well with this position and have found various ways to deal with it:
- Ninja left Twitch after he said he was a “slave to the stream in 2018 and hadn’t lived” – on Mixer, he now has different, more pleasant working conditions.
- Shroud also left Twitch, but he seems to be completely at peace with himself. However, he also doesn’t have the same pressure on Mixer as he did on Twitch.
- The current Twitch streamer with the most followers, Turner “Tfue” Tenney has also taken a short break because he was unhappy.
It seems to be lonely at the top of Twitch, and the performance one must deliver to get there takes its toll.
Asmongold and the streamer Pink Sparkles were for a while the celebrity couple of Twitch. We wrote about the strange fascination of the mismatched couple that they had on some WoW players.
