The Netflix series Squid Game has been a smash hit around the world, but this sudden burst of popularity has had some surprising consequences. Lydia "SquidGame" Ellery is a Twitch streamer and Content Producer who works on the Yogscast, which she joined back in 2018. After suffering a series of unfortunate events linked directly to her chosen username, SquidGame is now seriously considering changing it for the good of her career on Twitch.
SquidGame appears to have realized that her username was becoming a problem in the aftermath of the massive Twitch data leak when she was unexpectedly banned from Instagram, placing her accounts in jeopardy across two platforms. Recently, she posted to her official Twitter account--known as @SquidGaming--that she was starting to feel as though she had no choice but to change her username, presumably on all platforms.
In her post, SquidGame states that she might have to change her handle permanently because the popularity of Squid Game means that audiences--and potential employers--associate her username with the series. Reportedly, this has led to her losing work opportunities because people don't want to hire her with her current handle. Between the loss of work, being banned under false reports, and general harassment by fans of the show, SquidGame appears to be ready to call it quits and change her username.
At least one reply to SquidGame's initial post aims to comfort her by stating that Squid Game's popularity is unlikely to last and a sequel is a ways off, assuming Squid Game will get a sequel at all. However, this is unlikely to comfort the streamer in the moment, as she appears to be feeling the loss of work opportunities. SquidGame has stated that several people have advised her to complain or call for help, but she has no idea who to call or email. The harassment doesn't appear to have a ringleader, and it might be a stretch to blame Netflix for what's going on.
As of writing, it appears that SquidGame fans are more sympathetic to her than Squid Game fans, with several expressing a desire to comfort or support her. A number of fans recommended that she try suing Netflix, the Korean studio that made Squid Game, or both, citing a "loss of earnings" as grounds for a serious lawsuit. Nearly as many cautioned her against suing and tried to find a silver lining in the whole mess. This isn't the first time harassment has forced a Twitch streamer to take extreme measures, but it's interesting that this happened as a side effect of a show with a similar name achieving great success.