The gaming streamer Ludwig Ahgren was considered the “Golden Boy” of Twitch in 2021 and a major rising star on the streaming platform. With a huge event lasting a month, he made a name for himself in April 2021. However, since his move to competitor YouTube, he seems to no longer be in favor at Twitch. He might now face a similar fate as DrDisrespect: the former favorite of Twitch simply does not appear on the platform anymore.
Who is Ludwig?
- The 26-year-old originally comes from the fighting game Super Smash Bros., but has been a huge Twitch fan since his youth, admiring people like shroud and dreaming of becoming “a big name” on the platform. Ludwig once paid $43,000 just to play for an hour with shroud.
- In fact, the American managed in 2021 to become one of the most important and innovative Twitch streamers. Ludwig capitalized on every trend and even set some himself, speaking non-stop. His highlight was a month-long marathon stream fueled by paid subscriptions, or “subs.” With the stream, he made $1.3 million and broke the “sub-record” of Ninja from his Fortnite peak times.
- However, 2021 was not only the peak of Ludwig’s Twitch career but also the end. He switched to the YouTube platform because he felt “not enough loved” by Twitch. He said that he loves Twitch, but there is not enough love coming back.
Twitch says “No” to Ludwig
What is happening now? Ludwig complained at his departure about a “too cool” attitude towards him. Twitch did not fight hard enough for him, he said, sounding like a disappointed lover.
The mood between him and his “old flame” Twitch seems to have cooled down quite a bit since then.
Ludwig already remarked somewhat sheepishly on December 16 that he did not appear in Twitch’s year-in-review. Although he was certainly objectively one of the most important Twitch streamers in 2021, he was completely absent there.
Twitch simply erased him from history.
Now, in a conversation with streamer “TheStockGuy,” it came out that Twitch has apparently also rejected him elsewhere.
“TheStockGuy,” a stock market specialist on the platform, hosted an interview show on Twitch where he suggested guests for the show, but Twitch had to approve the interview partners.
As a highlight and finale of the show, he wanted to invite Ludwig. After all, he was one of the biggest and most important creators on Twitch. But that did not go well:
Did I tell you what happened with Twitch? […] We had no one for the last episode, so I said: I’ll bring Ludwig, let’s see if he will come. […] Last episode, we’re going out with a big bang. They come to me and say: That’s a no!
I asked: “What does that mean, that’s a no, Ludwig cannot come? He hasn’t been banned. He just left Twitch. You parted on good terms. They say: No.
I said: I’m not doing this without Ludwig. So they go back to the top management, come back and say: “No.”
This is what’s behind it: Twitch seems to have a strange policy with people who consciously or under pressure part ways with the website. This is striking:
- After the departure of their biggest streamer, Ninja, in 2019, they used Ninja’s Twitch page to promote other streamers until Ninja publicly complained because apparently, they were promoting porn streams there.
- For streamers who are banned by Twitch, there are strict rules, as seen especially with DrDisrespect. He is no longer allowed to appear on Twitch at all. He is even cut from “award shows” as a precaution because Twitch’s revenge is feared.
- It also seems that Twitch is now taking a weird stance with Ludwig, simply saying “no” without further explanation.
Apparently, Twitch operates on the principle: “Whoever leaves us as a big star, no longer exists for us.” However, it must be said that they do take back remorseful streamers like shroud or Ninja with open arms.
There are many things that are sometimes a bit puzzling about Twitch:
