Chance “Sodapoppin” Morris has been streaming for 15 years and has witnessed almost all developments on Twitch. However, the 29-year-old is dissatisfied with the current state of streaming.
What kind of streamer is he? The Twitch streamer Sodapoppin has been in the game for ages: He started streaming in 2008 on the now-defunct service Xfire, and in 2012, he switched to Twitch, where he became one of the most followed streamers (via sullygnome).
Initially, Sodapoppin mostly showcased WoW, experimented with gambling for a while, and then became a variety streamer. For many viewers, the streaming veteran embodies the essence of Twitch with his gaming content and dry humor.
In his long streaming career, the 29-year-old has experienced almost every development on Twitch – and has even driven some of them forward as a trendsetter. However, Sodapoppin is not satisfied with the current state of the streaming industry.
For many, the epitome of the current streaming scene: xQc.
Viewer numbers are everything, says Sodapoppin
What bothers Sodapoppin about streaming? The Twitch streamer is otherwise hardly active on other social networks, but on August 17, he took to Twitter to express his frustration. In a now-deleted post, he talked about what it takes as a streamer to stay on top:
Streaming is just playing video games. And abusing drugs to stay up and farm viewer numbers. And checking into Just Chatting to get the viewer numbers back up. And trashing games as soon as the viewer numbers go down, so you can get out of the category without saying you’re doing it because the viewer numbers are down, because admitting that viewer numbers matter is bad for viewer numbers. And a bunch of other stupid stuff I don’t want to write down.
Sodapoppin seems to be criticizing not only other streamers here, but also talking about his own experiences. In 2021, he admitted to abusing the drug Adderall to get through his streams – looking back, it was the worst time of his life.
However, he also directs pointed criticism at his Twitch colleagues: It’s okay to think about viewer numbers, but streaming has become focused solely on min-maxing, which is uncomfortable.
He sees hardly any sincere streamers anymore, says Sodapoppin: “That makes me sad.” The 29-year-old ends his tirade with the prediction that in 3 years he will probably tweet again to announce his retirement.
Some fans demanded a reaction from xQc to the post, but he remained tight-lipped. As the former Overwatch pro embodies many of the points Sodapoppin mentioned. You can read more about it from the colleagues at GameStar.
Sodapoppin himself seems to have reached a better point in his life after so many years in the streaming business, living with his girlfriend “Veibae” and streaming a bit less. That seems to make some envy him:
