The biggest streamer on Twitch is the Canadian Félix “xQc” Lengyel, a former pro in Blizzard’s shooter Overwatch. In a podcast, he now explains that some streamers pretend to be broke even when they are rich. They would maintain this “facade” because the “Twitch” system encourages this behavior.
What exactly does xQc say? In a Twitch stream on November 29, xQc gets angry once again. He states, partly with some incomprehensible passages:
Streamers who pretend they don’t make much money. Streamers who say: “Hey, I’m broke.” Even I call them out: “Buddy, you’re rich. Stop being such a jerk.” They do this on purpose. They act like they’re joking about it – but they’re not joking about it: They say they don’t make much money. But that’s not true.
That’s a brick in their facade. It has to do with the whole system. The system rewards that. It’s a system that brings them money. And one of those bricks is pretending to have no money. And if you pull out one brick and another, then the facade falls apart.
xQc
xQc accuses streamers of building a false facade
What does the man mean by that? In his own unique way, xQc explains:
- Streamers create an image that is supposed to entice viewers to donate more money to them; through donations or via Twitch Prime
- As part of this image, streamers maintain the impression that they are financially struggling and need the support of fans
- According to xQc, the “Twitch system” ensures that streamers benefit from deceiving their fans in this way
Is he right about that? In the case of some streamers he criticizes, that is certainly true. There are different ways that content creators handle the topic of “money.” It depends on what target audience they are addressing and how they relate to that audience:
- Some content creators, especially those appealing to younger viewers, particularly in the vicinity of the rap scene, emphasize how much money they have – they “flex” with their earnings. MontanaBlack often brags about how much money he has and that he could earn even more. Even gambling streamers like Scurrows “flex” with their money.
- In extreme cases, some people even pretend to have more money than they actually do, under the motto “Fake it till you make it.” Especially around the German streamer ApoRed, there is a discussion that he pretends to be swimming in money while actually being broke.
- Other content creators, especially smaller ones catering to a specific group of viewers, openly request money from their viewers, demanding it as a “fee”, often complaining that they need this support.
- For many successful streamers with maximum reach, money is not even a topic they discuss – everyone knows that superstars like TimTheTatman or shroud have a lot of money. However, they usually present themselves modestly and do not address it at all.
- Some streamers like Pokimane even say: They do not want high donations from their viewers, they make their money through advertising deals. Viewers should rather donate to “small streamers.”
But xQc is right that it is part of the image of many streamers to appear less wealthy than they actually are to maintain a flow of donations. This takes absurd forms when people with a lot of money still ask for 5€ from viewers who are at risk of poverty.
In August 2021, there was a major discussion about the streamer HasanAbi because he could afford a large villa as a “leftist streamer”:
Streamer criticizes the rich on Twitch, buys a house for 2.7 million USD
