The former star of Fortnite on Twitch, Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, has taken up a new hobby like some other streamers: He opens loot boxes in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). Even at a wedding, he opens paid loot boxes in a suit using his Steam Deck. This is viewed critically. It is considered a gambling addiction.
What is this trend?
- In the shooter CS:GO, there are loot boxes that contain weapon skins. These skins are traded for real money. Prices can go up to $150,000. Since it became known that CS:GO will receive a boost with the major update CS2, Twitch streamers have been investing hundreds of thousands of US dollars in loot boxes and opening them live on stream. The viewers watch them do it.
- In Germany, Twitch streamers like ohnePixel or MontanaBlack are shaping this CS:GO trend, while in the USA, Ninja, TimTheTatman, and even DrDisrespect have caught the fever.
- But Ninja seems to be taking it too far now. He has already gotten into trouble opening loot boxes under the influence of alcohol and mocking another streamer. Now he is going overboard again.
The image shows Ninja opening loot boxes at Nadeshot’s wedding
This image went viral: The former head of YouTube Gaming, Ryan Wyatt, shared a photo on Twitter on July 21 showing Ninja opening loot boxes using the Steam Deck.
The photo is from the wedding of e-sport team leader Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag. He owns the fashion-oriented team 100 Thieves and was a former professional in Call of Duty.
Ninja stands there in a suit in a situation where he should actually be having fun, blocking out everything around him and instead opening loot boxes in CS:GO. His friend Cloakzy stands by, astonished.
The photo has already received over 1 million views:
“Even worse than gambling”
How is this being discussed? Mainly negatively. The photo and the practice of case-opening in the live stream are criticized especially because loot boxes are essentially like gambling, and real gambling has been banned in certain casinos on Twitch.
At the same time as the ban on traditional gambling at one-armed bandits, it has become a trend to open loot boxes, for example in Pokémon, FIFA, or now in CS:GO. In the comments, people say:
- “I think that’s called gambling addiction.”
- “Cool, let’s all become addicted to gambling. Streamers who showcase that should be treated like streamers who showcase gambling.”
- “One could even say that’s worse than gambling because it’s about video games.”
- “The only thing worse is: None of them have cases for their Steam Deck.”
A user says: This is a gambling addiction. They could buy any skin on the market that they want instead of doing this.
Twitch streamers flaunt their wealth, teasing unfortunate DrDisrespect
How do streamers react to this? They don’t seem to care much about the criticism.
TimTheTatman posts a video showing him, Ninja, and Cloakzy sitting in a private jet, opening loot boxes on the Steam Deck and writes, “Our hobby travels with us.”
Ninja even shares the photo of himself with the astonished Cloakzy. He seems particularly proud that he has found so many valuable “knives” in CS:GO, while DrDisrespect seems to be struggling: he finds nothing.
DrDisrespect fires back as Ninja rubs his success in his face: he should take some more drinks and keep streaming. A reference to the embarrassing incident recently.
It is noteworthy that DrDisrespect even opens loot boxes. He is actually considered an “old-school gamer,” who rejects such things. In 2019, he had complained about FIFA streamers who do not play but only open boxes.
In Germany, Jan Böhmermann once dealt extensively with the problem of “loot boxes and gambling in gaming:”
But even then, the criticism of Twitch streamers did not reach them at all. Trymacs, who was even shown in the contribution while opening loot boxes, was sure: although Böhmermann shoots against Twitch streamers who promote gambling in the video, he is not talking about him:
Trymacs watches as Böhmermann takes on FIFA 22 and Twitch streamers like him: “He can’t mean me!”
