The toxic culture described in reports about gaming companies appears to be directly related to gaming itself. As one source put it:
„Almost everyone at Twitch was a hardcore gamer. We had all been in this environment for a long time. That’s why we were so successful. We understood the environment and had a huge passion for making Twitch successful. But that also meant we were in an environment where toxic behavior was normal. I think basically all competitive gaming communities are toxic to some extent.”
A source
2020 was supposed to be the year of PS5 and Xbox Series X in gaming. So far, it’s more of the year of “Corona virus and delays” and the year of sex scandals. Very similar to the report on the early days of Twitch, the insider report about the French publisher Ubisoft reads:
Insider report paints a grim picture of Ubisoft – sexism as a system
Reading this now, five years later, leaves her astonished. On one hand, she felt disheartened; on the other, she always knew it was true.
This is what’s behind it: The allegations against Twitch strongly resemble what was accused of the LoL developer Riot Games a few years ago. However, Twitch seems to have managed to keep that under wraps for much longer.
The toxic culture described in reports about gaming companies appears to be directly related to gaming itself. As one source put it:
„Almost everyone at Twitch was a hardcore gamer. We had all been in this environment for a long time. That’s why we were so successful. We understood the environment and had a huge passion for making Twitch successful. But that also meant we were in an environment where toxic behavior was normal. I think basically all competitive gaming communities are toxic to some extent.”
A source
2020 was supposed to be the year of PS5 and Xbox Series X in gaming. So far, it’s more of the year of “Corona virus and delays” and the year of sex scandals. Very similar to the report on the early days of Twitch, the insider report about the French publisher Ubisoft reads:
Insider report paints a grim picture of Ubisoft – sexism as a system
The most extreme stories seem to emerge from the time before and during the acquisition by Amazon, but some stories also seem to take place afterwards. GamesIndustry.biz is cautious about the timing to protect the sources.
Twitch says: We care, many incidents are years old
This is Twitch’s response: Twitch states in a statement that it takes every allegation of this type extremely seriously. All statements claiming otherwise misrepresent the culture, values, and leadership of Twitch.
Many of these allegations are already years old. They have taken many steps to ensure that employees and communities are protected and supported. For instance, they have invested a lot in the HR department and brought in new, diverse leaders to Twitch.
They have also developed a process that allows employees to confidentially reach out to a third party via an anonymous website to investigate incidents.
Twitch seems to suggest with the statement that things have apparently changed a lot, even if they do not explicitly admit how bad it was “back then.”
Kaceytron always suspected it was like that
This is what Kaceytron says: The streamer mentioned explicitly in the report says now: She always felt that she was kept small and discriminated against.
Reading this now, five years later, leaves her astonished. On one hand, she felt disheartened; on the other, she always knew it was true.
This is what’s behind it: The allegations against Twitch strongly resemble what was accused of the LoL developer Riot Games a few years ago. However, Twitch seems to have managed to keep that under wraps for much longer.
The toxic culture described in reports about gaming companies appears to be directly related to gaming itself. As one source put it:
„Almost everyone at Twitch was a hardcore gamer. We had all been in this environment for a long time. That’s why we were so successful. We understood the environment and had a huge passion for making Twitch successful. But that also meant we were in an environment where toxic behavior was normal. I think basically all competitive gaming communities are toxic to some extent.”
A source
2020 was supposed to be the year of PS5 and Xbox Series X in gaming. So far, it’s more of the year of “Corona virus and delays” and the year of sex scandals. Very similar to the report on the early days of Twitch, the insider report about the French publisher Ubisoft reads:
Insider report paints a grim picture of Ubisoft – sexism as a system
A major insider report points to misconduct at the streaming platform Twitch. There, an anti-female climate is said to have prevailed internally. This affected the company’s female employees and extended to the female streamers on the platform. Men at Twitch reportedly considered ways to get rid of the streamer Kaceytron under false pretenses, claiming she showed too much cleavage.
Where do the information come from? The site GamesIndustry.biz states that it was approached by a former employee of Twitch. She was upset about a statement from Twitch CEO Emmet Shear regarding how seriously “sexism” is taken on the platform.
The employee states: There have been several systemic incidents of racism, sexism, and abuse within the company over the years. Such incidents have been swept under the rug.
GamesIndustry.biz subsequently spoke with other Twitch employees who were able to confirm some of these incidents. The outcome was a comprehensive insider report detailing numerous incidents that are anti-female, racist, and disgusting (via gamesindustry.biz).
GamesIndustry.biz is actually a specialist magazine that conducts interviews with developers or reports on how companies are economically and strategically positioned. This makes the report even more explosive.
“How do we get her off the site without bending the rules?”
How do they talk about female streamers at Twitch? One source claims to have heard employees discussing the streamer “Kaceytron”.
Kaceytron was a pioneer among female streamers on Twitch. She started her streaming career with WoW in March 2013, but is now primarily known for LoL.
The source states: Kaceytron caused a lot of discomfort internally at Twitch as she became so popular.
„It was one of those rare moments when these guys just honestly said what they meant: The woman is a problem because she shows too much cleavage. We need to find a way to get her off our website that doesn’t break our rules.”
An anonymous source about Twitch
It is said that female streamers were referred to as “Boob Streamers” by men in the office and sexist jokes were made at their expense.
A Twitch employee says anonymously:
„The women on the platform had to meet extremely high standards. And they were always blamed if they used their sexuality as a marketing tool, which was deeply degrading.”
Women as “Bitches” and the Penis in the CEO’s Twitter Name
This is how women were said to be treated at Twitch: There also seems to have been an anti-female climate within the company. Men reportedly referred to women as “Bitches” and “whores” more often.
Women were seen as “different” and thus treated differently. They were not taken seriously at Twitch and were not given the same opportunities as men.
The company tolerated misogyny.
Overall, Twitch operated like an exclusive boys’ club, especially in the early days, sources say. A vice president of Twitch had a name on Twitter until 2014 that referenced his impressive anatomy.
Here were other issues: The report includes several pages and details various incidents, some alarmingly graphic:
- People from the inner circle around the company’s founders could behave as they wanted – they were protected from above.
- The HR department did not follow up on complaints from women against men. Female employees felt they were not being heard, and complaints went unanswered. Men accused did not get fired by Twitch, but were often promoted instead.
- Decision-makers were male and white, complaints from women or minorities were brushed aside. They simply weren’t seen as important because they regarded their own experiences as the “universal user experiences,” according to another source.
- When hate speech occurred, managers allegedly said it was just teenagers trying to show off. They didn’t even take racist statements seriously.
- There were also boozy company parties where people behaved completely inappropriately. This also went without consequences.
- Women were expected to join in the festivities, to be groped, and to behave unprofessionally to fit in and be “part of Twitch,” one woman shared. She felt pressure to attend parties and accept the behavior there.
- Decision-makers often acted on personal connections. No action was taken against certain streamers accused of abuse, because a Twitch employee had previously been intoxicated with them at Dreamhack.
- The platform’s moderation was neglected for the first few years “as long as no one dies,” and only began to receive attention when Sony and Microsoft came knocking. They insisted on a better, moderated environment if they wanted to take Twitch on as a partner platform for PS4 and Xbox One.
Things apparently improved with Amazon’s acquisition
This was a turning point: The insider report admits that things changed quite a bit as early as 2014. That was when Amazon purchased the platform. This was accompanied by a “professionalization” process. Twitch began hiring more women and members of marginalized groups.
The most extreme stories seem to emerge from the time before and during the acquisition by Amazon, but some stories also seem to take place afterwards. GamesIndustry.biz is cautious about the timing to protect the sources.
Twitch says: We care, many incidents are years old
This is Twitch’s response: Twitch states in a statement that it takes every allegation of this type extremely seriously. All statements claiming otherwise misrepresent the culture, values, and leadership of Twitch.
Many of these allegations are already years old. They have taken many steps to ensure that employees and communities are protected and supported. For instance, they have invested a lot in the HR department and brought in new, diverse leaders to Twitch.
They have also developed a process that allows employees to confidentially reach out to a third party via an anonymous website to investigate incidents.
Twitch seems to suggest with the statement that things have apparently changed a lot, even if they do not explicitly admit how bad it was “back then.”
Kaceytron always suspected it was like that
This is what Kaceytron says: The streamer mentioned explicitly in the report says now: She always felt that she was kept small and discriminated against.
Reading this now, five years later, leaves her astonished. On one hand, she felt disheartened; on the other, she always knew it was true.
This is what’s behind it: The allegations against Twitch strongly resemble what was accused of the LoL developer Riot Games a few years ago. However, Twitch seems to have managed to keep that under wraps for much longer.
The toxic culture described in reports about gaming companies appears to be directly related to gaming itself. As one source put it:
„Almost everyone at Twitch was a hardcore gamer. We had all been in this environment for a long time. That’s why we were so successful. We understood the environment and had a huge passion for making Twitch successful. But that also meant we were in an environment where toxic behavior was normal. I think basically all competitive gaming communities are toxic to some extent.”
A source
2020 was supposed to be the year of PS5 and Xbox Series X in gaming. So far, it’s more of the year of “Corona virus and delays” and the year of sex scandals. Very similar to the report on the early days of Twitch, the insider report about the French publisher Ubisoft reads:
Insider report paints a grim picture of Ubisoft – sexism as a system
