Streaming giant Twitch has announced that it would be banning most gambling content from its site after several major streamers threatened to strike.
Twitch said in a statement that content including slots, dice games or roulette would not be permitted on the site, while also maintaining that channels that focus on sports betting or poker could continue.
“We’ll be making a policy update on October 18th to prohibit streaming of gambling sites that include slots, roulette, or dice games that aren’t licensed in the U.S. or other jurisdictions that provide sufficient consumer protection,” the statement read.
The controversy surrounding gambling on Twitch’s website comes after popular streamer Abraham Mohammad, known as Sliker, admitted on a stream Saturday that he scammed fans and other streamers into giving him at least $200,000.
He told other streamers, including popular political streamer Hassan Piker, that he was going through financial trouble and needed the funds to survive, only to admit Saturday that he used the funds to support an intense gambling addiction.
Specifically, Sliker admitted to spending thousands of dollars betting in the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive skins market. A market that, as of 2016, is valued at over $7 billion.
“I deserve punishment. Whatever happens, happens. I don’t know what to say to the people I borrowed from. This is the epitome of gambling. I want to say don’t touch it,” Mr. Mohammad said.
In response, numerous high-profile streamers including Pokiman and HasanAbi announced that they would refuse to provide content to Twitch during the week of Christmas unless the service provider banned gambling content on the site.
While many applauded the decision, some streamers pointed out what they saw as hypocrisy by the popular streamers for forcing Twitch to take down content only when it seemed to hurt their revenue.
Like others have said, where was this energy during hate raids? Where is it for the constant racism, homophobia, transphobia & misogyny on the platform?
— Tanya @ home (@cypheroftyr) September 19, 2022
The full language of the policy will be released once the ban goes live in October.