Twitch streamer, internet personality, and former Overwatch pro Felix "xQc" Lengyel has been temporarily banned from the popular streaming platform, as well as Twitch Rivals events after stream sniping during a recent Fall Guys event. While it doesn't appear the act was done with ill intent and it ultimately had no impact on the results, stream sniping is in violation of GlitchCon's player conduct code, though Twitch has been historically criticized for inconsistent rule enforcements.

This is not the first time xQc finds himself in trouble with Twitch. In 2019, he was banned for 72 hours after streaming a video where explicit scenes were edited to be "safe for work." This year, he was banned for showing nudity on stream while playing an adult-themed Connect Four game, and again when watching a video of two gorillas having sex.

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The incident results in a temporary ban for xQc's account, as well as a six-month ban from future Twitch Rivals events. He will also forfeit his prize winnings from GlitchCon. As of right now, Twitch has not specified the length of the account ban, only that it is temporary; which means it could be as little as a few days, or as long as a few months. "We require all participants to abide by the same rules in order to play in a tournament," the company said on Twitter. Some xQc fans are worried about the ruling, with Dr Disrespect's Twitch ban still in recent memory.

On November 14, xQc asked his fans to, "Stop defending [me] everywhere for no reason... we shouldn't of done it and it was wrong," going on to say that he originally thought it would be funny. It's possible that coming out in defense of the ruling will end favorably for him, but whether xQc's apology for the sniping will influence the longevity of his ban is still unclear. Only further elaboration from Twitch will end the speculation.

As a streamer, xQc is no stranger to controversy, but this ban begs the question of how far Twitch will allow him to push the rules, especially given he is the highest-earning streamer in the world according to some reports. Shroud, another big name in streaming, has been particularly vocal in his frustration over xQc's actions. On stream, he called the incident "unacceptable," and mentions that "no big partner has ever done this."

Twitch has a history with rule-bending for its more popular streamers. However, the situation with xQc being clear-cut makes for less complications, leaving only room for speculation as to why xQc stream sniped DrLupo. It's possible that this marks a new push to hold everyone equally accountable for Twitch, but it could just as easily be another example of wrist-slaps and quickly moving on.

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