Twitch is one of the largest streaming platforms on the Internet, but it has been admonished as of late for perceived issues from its viewers and creators such as a string of bans and deleted videos due to DMCA takedown notices. Earlier this year, Twitch also received backlash for a mid-roll advertisement test that led to the endeavor being cancelled, yet ads have come up again amid a Minecraft speedrunning tournament.
Runners KiRyuKoe and Korbanoes took part in a best-of-three Quarterfinals match for the RSG 1.14 Tournament today, hosted on the MinecraftJavaSpeedrunnning Twitch account at 12:00 a.m. UTC. Both were in the Stronghold that opens up to Minecraft's endgame, the Ender Dragon boss fight, around 42 minutes into the third round when KiRyuKoe's side of the stream was interrupted by an advertisement for Trojan condoms.
The commentators lose their composure when the ad comes up after a moment of lag, seemingly unsure how to respond to the adult-oriented content popping up on the Minecraft speedrun. They continue to laugh after it ends, carrying a more jovial tone into continued explanations for how the runners are attempting to get into the End and face the Ender Dragon.
Not long after, just on the cusp of 44 minutes, Korbanoes won the match. More Quarterfinal matches are planned through November 14, according to a schedule listed on MinecraftJavaSpeedrunning's main Twitch page, with the remainder of the tournament currently unscheduled. However, it's hard to imagine many moments will stand out quite as much as this sudden ad appearance, despite the fact that neither speedrun ended in heartbreaking failure.
While Twitch's mid-roll advertisement test was stopped earlier this year, it is not the only instance of the streaming site receiving backlash over ad policies in 2020. A recent update resulted in Twitch users seeing an ad-blocking PSA if they try to use third-party extensions for removing advertisements.
There have also been controversies on the site due to the U.S. Navy using Twitch as a recruiting tool. However, the platform continues to host major events, such as a voter registration Among Us stream by U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez which received over 4.5 million views in October.
Minecraft is one of the most popular games on Twitch, with 26.8 million followers as of this writing. Even with the occasional interruption due to advertisements, casual playing and speedruns with certainly continue to appear, and may become even more prevalent with the release of Minecraft's Caves & Cliffs update in summer 2021.
Minecraft is available now on Mobile, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
Sources: MinecraftJavaSpeedrunning, Minecraft (Twitch),