Since the Twitch streamer Pia “Shurjoka” Scholz (25) has been named “Player of the Year 2023”, she has faced intense criticism. MeinMMO explains what the criticism is about and what the streamer has to say about it.
What kind of award is this? The German Computer Game Award (DCP) has been awarded since 2009 and is considered the most important award in the German gaming industry. It also serves as economic support for German game studios by the Federal Ministry of Economics. In addition to the best computer and video games, the Player of the Year is also honored.
On May 11, 2023, the Twitch streamer Pia “Shurjoka” Scholz was honored as “Player of the Year”. The 25-year-old enjoys playing strategy games like Crusader Kings III and is also an active player of Magic: The Gathering and pen-and-paper games.
Furthermore, Shurjoka is known for her political engagement. She uses her reach to advocate for equality and human rights. This sometimes causes friction.
For example, earlier this year, when she said she was very “loud” in advocating for the rights of trans people and criticized the new game Hogwarts Legacy, which is set in the Harry Potter universe. She called for a boycott in March 2022, urging people not to buy the game and raised criticism of the character “Hagrid”, who had given a boy a pig’s tail in the novels.
Now there are discussions about whether the choice of Shurjoka as Player of the Year is justified.
Note: The title image shows Shurjoka at the DCP award ceremony © Franziska Krug/Getty Images for Quinke Networks via flickr.
Critics say Shurjoka is not a real gamer
Why is the choice criticized? After the announcement of the Player of the Year, criticism arose on social media. Some people complained that Shurjoka shows too much “Just Chatting” and too little gaming on her Twitch channel to deserve the title.
Screenshots from the analysis site TwitchTracker were shared, revealing that the 25-year-old has spent more than 50% of her streams in the chatting category this year.
A Twitter user speculated that Shurjoka only won the award because she is “woke and loud”, while a female eSports athlete would have deserved the award more (via Twitter).
Influencer calls the award for Shurjoka a “scandal”
Who is behind the criticism? Among the critics are not only simple users of social networks like Twitter but also other influencers. The controversial opinion blogger KuchenTV released a YouTube video, in which he referred to the award as a “scandal”.
The video also featured MontanaBlack, who is among the largest German streamers. The 35-year-old claimed that Shurjoka does not play games – “or at least very rarely” (via YouTube). Furthermore, he called Shurjoka “toxic”.
For him, the award is therefore the “biggest joke of the year 2023”.
What do the numbers say? In fact, data from TwitchTracker shows that Shurjoka has spent about 55% of her streaming time in “Just Chatting” so far in 2023.
Spending so much time in “Just Chatting” has become typical for gaming streamers on Twitch, as viewers also appreciate the contact and conversation with the streamers.
For example, MontanaBlack’s “Just Chatting” proportion is at 22%. For 2023, this proportion has increased to 30%, along with 46% in CS:GO. However, MontanaBlack spends more time in the shooter opening chests than actually playing the game .
Shurjoka says critics are not concerned about the DCP, but about her
What does Shurjoka say about the criticism? In the stream on May 24, Shurjoka addressed the criticism against her. She states that discourse and factual criticism against her are legitimate. She can and must endure this as a public figure and as a “woman with a political opinion”.
However, she is disturbed when she is misquoted and misrepresented. She is often labeled as “extremist”. She rejects that. She also faces allegations that are not made by her, regarding Gronkh in connection with J.K. Rowling.
She is particularly upset that every time she appears in videos by male influencers, their community floods her with hate messages, threats of violence, especially with sexualized violence.
The reason why people criticize her is not that important.
Some people just have something against her, which varies every time: sometimes Hogwarts Legacy, sometimes a supposed double standard, and now the DCP. The ongoing criticism now leads to her being unable to properly enjoy positive events:
It really feels particularly terrible when you reach a point in your life where you no longer dare to be happy about things that happen to you. […] Because you must expect that a video will be made about everything that happens, and you will receive thousands of threats of violence. That is really harsh and really exhausting.
Shurjoka explains the DCP: ‘Political award with gaming relevance’
What does Shurjoka say about the award itself? Already on May 12, Shurjoka addressed the criticism of the award ceremony and explained on Twitter that she is a “Variety streamer.” This means that she does not specialize in a few games or topics.
Rather, variety streamers prioritize diversity. Shurjoka states that she usually starts her streams with a segment in “Just Chatting” and then switches to a variety of different games. Thus, it is logical that the time she spends chatting is greater than the time spent on individual games (via Twitter).
However, since the criticism has not ceased, she addressed the topic again in the stream on May 24. In that stream, she referred to the official definition of the award. It is not awarded for the best players or those with the highest playtime.
Instead, it is a political award given to individuals in the gaming scene who either stand out through exceptional gaming performance or through their political and social engagement.
For Shurjoka, it is therefore justified that she, as a player who engages socially, is awarded the title of “Player of the Year”.
Even outside of the DCP, some women in gaming continuously face accusations that they are not “real” gamers for some reason. Whether it’s due to their choice of games or the clothing they wear while gaming and streaming.
Women play an important role in gaming, as you can see from the 5 women without whom we wouldn’t have 5 of the best games in the world.
