Marcel “MontanaBlack” Eris was for a long time the most successful German streamer on Twitch. He now says in a stream, many see him and his success and believe they can emulate him and make quick money. But these people could “do nothing.” They are irrelevant and boring, the market is “oversaturated” anyway. These statements have drawn criticism from his own fans.
What statements is MontanaBlack criticized for now? The streamer compares today’s Twitch with the Twitch of earlier times. By “earlier,” he apparently refers to the streaming platform around the year 2018.
“Earlier,” when there was still another gaming market, Twitch consisted solely of gaming. Today, much of Twitch revolves around “Just Chatting”:
Twitch was just about gaming back then. Actually, almost only gaming and that was just awesome, dude. And it’s simply that now every loser, every irrelevant jerk, thinks their big career starts on Twitch because they see me, because they see people like Carsten, because they see people like Elias or other successful streamers and think: “Yeah, what he can do, I can do too” – No! You can do nothing, you are simply an irrelevant son of a bitch. Nobody cares about you.
MontanaBlack adds: The market is so oversaturated across all platforms because people “smell the quick money.” 90% of the people who would start streaming have purely financial interests. They want to “earn money by force.”
How does he respond to criticism? Still in the stream, MontanaBlack is confronted in the chat with criticism of his position. He responds by pointing out his special success:
“You are so in the scene, dude. I completely forgot. You, as an outsider viewer, of course know exactly what’s going on behind the scenes. I totally forgot, dude. How dare I, as the biggest streamer or one of the biggest streamers in Germany, with the most followed channel on Twitch, how can I even dare to make that claim?”
MontanaBlack criticizes the change on Twitch – is himself a prime example of it
Is he right with his statements? MontanaBlack is right in stating that Twitch has changed:
- In the last 365 days, “Just Chatting” was by far the largest category on Twitch – with 3.1 million hours, it was twice as large as the biggest game, LoL
- In 2018, “Just Chatting” with 141,000 hours was number 11 among the categories – Fortnite was about 9 times larger with 1.35 million hours
So it is correct that Twitch has changed and no longer revolves solely around gaming. Prominent figures on Twitch like Amouranth or HasanAbi are only tangentially connected to gaming. Even actual gaming streamers like Asmongold spend a lot of time discussing topics that are far outside of gaming, like the court case between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard.
But MontanaBlack plays a significant role here:
- In the last 365 days, MontanaBlack was seen in “Just Chatting” for 348 hours, almost 4 times as often as in his most played game, “FIFA 23”
- In 2018, MontanaBlack spent 618 hours in Fortnite, and not at all in “Just Chatting”
He is therefore criticizing a development in which he himself, at least in Germany, is an absolute pioneer.
MontanaBlack also admits: The gaming market has changed in recent years. As one can tell from his Twitter posts, he has largely lost interest in his former “core games” like Call of Duty or Fortnite. He is no longer allowed to show gambling on Twitch due to legal issues.
“Money has gone to his head” – “Fears becoming irrelevant himself”
What bothers people about the statements? Under the YouTube video of “Die Crew”, which review his streams and publish highlights on YouTube, there is a lot of criticism of the statements made by the 34-year-old streamer.
- It is said that MontanaBlack has had “money go to his head” – He is “jealous of people” who are surpassing him and fears becoming irrelevant himself.
- According to MontanaBlack’s definition, Elias Nerlich (Eli97N) is also a total newcomer who has only been streaming since 2020, yet he has surpassed MontanaBlack.
- Another user says: MontanaBlack insults people who start streaming. Who does he think he is? God, who decides who can stream and who cannot?
- Others note: MontanaBlack is too stuck in the old days.
MontanaBlack is overtaken by just such a “newcomer” on Twitch
What is behind this: Normally, MontanaBlack receives a lot of support for such statements. Even if he appears vulgar, it usually doesn’t bother the commentators in his highlight streams.
However, what bothers his own fans here is that MontanaBlack tells new people they are “irrelevant and boring” and even insults them, which creates the idea that no one can follow in his footsteps. Because “the market is oversaturated.”
Many fans of MontanaBlack seemingly see him as a kind of role model they want to emulate. When this option is blocked for them, it deters them.
Moreover, it is already ironic that MontanaBlack is now criticizing the commercialization of Twitch, while there are few streamers worldwide who operate as commercially as MontanaBlack and flaunt their earnings from Twitch:
- MontanaBlack has a shop where he sells his own merchandise
- advertised dubious NFT projects
- regularly reveals how much he has to pay to the tax office
- repeatedly shows a purely materialistic worldview
That he now says that others are about “the quick money” and not about “just doing Twitch as a hobby” sounds difficult coming from him.
Even if MontanaBlack is right in some statements, he does not seem to be in a position to accuse others of wanting “the quick money” or to criticize that Twitch “no longer revolves only around gaming.”
Because in both developments, “Just Chatting instead of Gaming” and a strong commercialization, MontanaBlack is an absolute trendsetter on Twitch.
To fully embrace this and then accuse successors of an “oversaturated market” seems contradictory. This explains why his viewers react so strongly here.
By the most viewed hours in the last 365 days, MontanaBlack is number 4 in Germany. With Eliasn97, who has been streaming regularly since 2021, just such a newcomer has overtaken him, whom he, according to his definition, hardly gives a chance to succeed on Twitch:
After 4 years, Germany has a new biggest Twitch streamer – Berliner finally surpasses MontanaBlack
