In a highly surprising and unexpected turn of events, Amazon-owned leading streaming platform Twitch has issued a ban on the well-known content creator and internet personality, PewDiePie. This move by Twitch is particularly significant given PewDiePie's massive following of over 111 million subscribers on YouTube and his status as one of the most successful and influential creators in the online space.PewDiePie's journey to stardom began when he started publishing Let's Play videos of various games on YouTube, sharing his reactions to action and horror games with millions of viewers worldwide. Although he had briefly streamed on Twitch and garnered over 1.5 million followers, his Twitch channel had been inactive for a couple of years. As a result, the online community was left stunned when, on March 21st, a peculiar video began streaming on PewDiePie's Twitch channel, featuring episodes of Trailer Park Boys.After rumors of a hack were debunked, PewDiePie's Twitch channel began broadcasting an endless loop of his old videos in a stream titled "PewDiePie Infinity." Given that the YouTuber had uploaded over 3,000 hours of content on his channel, this loop had more than enough material to engage curious viewers who could share their reactions on the channel's live chat. However, on May 9, Twitch announced a ban on PewDiePie's Twitch channel without providing any clear explanation, as it typically does.
Twitch's decision to ban PewDiePie from their platform has left fans wondering about the reason behind the move. While Twitch did not provide an explanation, many have speculated that the ban could be related to the infamous "bridge incident." This incident occurred during a live stream of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds in September 2017 when PewDiePie almost used a racial slur in response to an unexpected event in the game.
Other theories regarding the reason behind the ban suggest that Twitch's branded content policy may have played a role. One user pointed out that PewDiePie's Twitch channel was automatically streaming VODs of his YouTube videos, which may have violated Twitch's terms of service as the content guidelines on YouTube are more lenient than Twitch's. Another user expressed their frustration at Twitch's decision, suggesting that the platform had bought PewDiePie's videos only to ban him, which they viewed as evidence of Twitch's mismanagement.
As of now, PewDiePie has not commented on his recent ban from Twitch. It remains to be seen whether he will divulge any information regarding the reason behind the ban or how long it will last.