A scandal abruptly ended the career of the English Twitch streamer “ItsSliker” in September 2022. Now he attempted his comeback, thanked for the second chance – and was promptly banned by the streaming platform.
Why did the streamer need a second chance? In September 2022, allegations were made against Sliker claiming he had defrauded other content creators and viewers out of thousands of euros: The streamer allegedly reached out to the affected individuals in private messages, told them a sad story, and subsequently asked for money.
He claimed he would pay the money back within 2 months, just needing to resolve issues with his bank; the whole situation was very embarrassing for him, and he asked to keep it confidential, which was part of Sliker’s scheme.
What was behind it? In truth, he used the money to finance his gambling addiction: In an emotional apology video, he explained that he had increasingly borrowed money in the hope of winning enough to pay back his existing debts.
In total, Sliker is said to have accumulated debts amounting to at least €200,000; some sources even mentioned more than €300,000. Other larger streamers (xQc and Ludwig) eventually offered to compensate the affected parties.
Many also demanded that the streamer should be permanently banned from Twitch, which, however, did not happen. Now, in February 2023, months later, Sliker was indeed banned from the platform.
Sliker apparently planned a comeback
What is the current development? On January 26, Sliker thanked via Twitter for a “second chance in life.” This was his first activity on the account since October 2022. It looked very much like Sliker was planning his return to Twitch.
On the same day, a stream was started on Sliker’s Twitch channel, which was rather unusual: Instead of the streamer, a “Guy Fawkes” mask was displayed on a black background, with laughter audible.
The stream title “This channel is mine now” was an additional hint that something was not quite right.
On February 7, it was finally revealed that the channel had been permanently banned. Additionally, the partner status and subscribe button of the channel were removed.
Banning causes confusion
Why is the ban only happening now? Critics of Sliker are confused as to why the ban was only imposed now, months after it became known that Sliker had scammed his Twitch colleagues and viewers. However, it could be that the ban has nothing to do with it at all.
As reported by the US website dexerto, Sliker indicated in chat logs that he had been hacked. The mysterious stream, therefore, was not even from him. However, he had streamed on his second channel, which has also now been banned.
It is still unclear what exactly is happening with Sliker’s channels and whether he can take action against the ban if a hacker is indeed behind it. However, his Twitch comeback is likely delayed indefinitely.
The scandal surrounding Sliker likely cost not only him his career but also another major streamer: For Matthew “Mizkif” Rinaudo, things had been going up sharply until September 2022, but then he clashed with the wrong person on Twitter.
