Ninja And Pokimane Respond To Backlash

Twitch star Tyler Blevins aka Ninja and Imane Anys aka Pokimane have been chosen to be the co-streamers of the Valorant Champions Tour or VCT, however, they have received backlash because of this. During the Valorant First Strike, Riot drew the ire of the public as they only granted co-streaming permissions to Ninja and Myth. Now, on March 11th, Riot once again announced that streamers Myth, Shroud, Ninja and Pokimane would be granted special permission to co-stream VCT Masters NA on their own channels.

But then, it seems like some fans didn’t like Riot’s decision as they claimed that their choice to pick Ninja and Pokimane over other streamers was purely down to their popularity, rather than their knowledge of the game. Twitch streamer Pokimane responded to the backlash as she wrote on twitter addressing the issue; “Saw some comments about Valorant co-streaming. I had no idea pros wanted to stream it but couldn’t. I agree they should be able to! Sorry to those who were disappointed, wish it was up to me.” Also, AverageJonas posted his opinion regarding this as he explained his belief that both were more than qualified to host co-streams because they both have a competitive experience in Valorant.

Ninja replied to AverageJonas’ tweet thanking AverageJonas for defending him. Riot is selective with their choice of co-streamers as they are keen to avoid compromising sponsorship deals and professional integrity, as well as track viewing numbers. Limiting the number of co-streamers makes this all easier for Riot to monitor, and to avoid any major mishaps that could rub people the wrong way.