The Twitch streamer Gronkh was extremely surprised when he received his first donation in 2015. Especially since he never set up this feature. This excerpt is currently experiencing a revival on TikTok and many viewers are indulging in nostalgic memories.
How did it all begin? Since his beginnings in 2010, Gronkh, one of the most well-known German content creators on YouTube and Twitch, has built a massive and loyal following. Many of his viewers have accompanied him since his first Let’s Plays on YouTube. Others joined his community over time.
The streamer became particularly well known for his engagement with the game Minecraft, for which he produced 1,278 episodes of Let’s Plays over a span of more than 3 years. With an impressive total length of over 21,000 minutes of gameplay, it captivated many viewers.
In 2014, he also began streaming on Twitch and quickly gained a large fanbase there as well. On January 17, 2015, Gronkh experienced an unexpected turning point when he received his first donation.
Here you can learn more about the streamer:
“I didn’t set that up at all!”, the streamer explained
How did his first donation go? When Gronkh started his stream in January 2015 and told his viewers about his previous recordings for “The Forest”, he had no idea what to expect. In the midst of his stories, he suddenly received his first donation.
“nekkode” donated €1, and Gronkh’s first reaction was a mix of surprise and confusion: “What? How is that even possible? Huh? I didn’t set that up at all!”. He asked the donating viewer in astonishment how they managed to donate since he had neither set up a donation link nor activated the corresponding alerts.
The streamer admitted that he had been asked for a donation link before, but had not cared about it until now. Although he was familiar with the function from other streamers, he felt somewhat uncomfortable with it.
As a fresh Twitch partner, he was still very inexperienced
What did Gronkh know about the function so far? However, his inexperience regarding the topic became particularly evident when a viewer named “Captainsinasparrow” asked him this question: “Does the money go to you, or also to Twitch?”.
Gronkh confessed that he didn’t know exactly how the earnings were distributed. As a freshly minted Twitch partner, he had simply signed the contract without thoroughly reading it, assuming that the terms would be similar to those on YouTube, where there was little room for negotiation.
“I feel so bad,” Gronkh said
Just as Gronkh was about to tell his viewers that he had been thinking about how he wanted to deal with donations, he was interrupted again by a donation. This time, the donation from “LurchLiebe” came in for €1. But instead of continuing his thoughts, he was overwhelmed by a flood of further €1 donations that kept pouring in.
Gronkh had hardly any opportunity to complete a full sentence before he was interrupted again by an alert. In the midst of this flood of donations, he confessed to his viewers that he felt uncomfortable due to the sudden money donations. But then a donation from “Toxinator84” arrived for €150.
The streamer stared in disbelief at the screen and could hardly believe what he saw. “I hope this isn’t serious. I hope this isn’t true, what it says right now. Toxinator84, I hope this isn’t true! I hope this is one of those things that will be refunded in the end,” he explained, while holding his finger in the camera. However, even after this remarkable donation, the monetary contributions did not stop.
Gronkh wants to donate half of the earnings
Given the overwhelming number of donations that kept pouring in, Gronkh increasingly felt overwhelmed. At some point during the stream, he made a decision: he wanted to donate a part of the earnings. He emphasized once again that the donations shouldn’t have been activated at all. Still, he was so overwhelmed by the generosity of his viewers, that he decided to split the donations.
The streamer explained to his viewers that he intended to split the amount 50/50: one half was to be donated, while he wanted to “steal out” the other half to buy new lighting for his setup, as he put it.
Although Gronkh is often referred to as the “old hand” of the German gaming community, he repeatedly proves that his time is not over yet, despite claims to the contrary from critics. You can read more about this here: Twitch: Gronkh has clear words for critics who claim, “You’re too old to be playing”
