Online Streamers Come Under Fire

Streamers and artists on Amazon’s Twitch and Google’s YouTube have been criticized for weeks of content centered on the Amber Heard and Johnny Depp case.

Twitch stars Asmongold and xQc, as well as YouTubers like Ludwig, live streamed their responses to the defamation case. During a tumultuous lawsuit, the numerous creators who got involved ended up with world-record watch times and donations. Since he began streaming the court case, Asmongold has led the current list of most viewed on Twitch, with a total of 12 million hours consumed by his audience. However, Asmongold has amassed an enormous number of subscribers and followers as a result of the viewership data. The values in the following analysis do not include the advertising money that Asmongold has earned.

Using Twitch Tracker, a service dedicated to tracking the full of Twitch users’ ins and outs, Asmongold amassed a whopping 10,261 subscribers in the first six days of June – with the case ending on June 1 – On June 1, the vast majority of viewers tuned in. While 5,319 of these were Amazon Prime subscriptions, which pay a streamer $2.50 per month (Amazon offers every prime user a ‘free’ Twitch subscription), he has earned an estimated $13,297.50 since June 1.

In June alone, 3,395 new subscribers paid at least $4.99 each to join Asmongold. This amounts to an estimated $16,941 before taxes, with seven people opting for the $9.99 tier and ten for the $24.99 tier. 

In May, when the trial was at its peak, Asmongold’s subscriptions reached their greatest level in a single month since July 2021, with a total of 35,274 people opting to subscribe across the board. Asmongold received roughly 2,000 followers each hour on average throughout his stream covering the case’s judgement, totaling 17,821 at the end of his 10-hour stream, which also included a new World of Warcraft patch.

Ludwig, who is known for his outspokenness on other streamers, has responded to audience and other critics. “Selfishly, I did grow from this,” he said on his ‘Mogul Mail’ channel. His video goes into great detail about how much he grew his channel by using the trial as content, claiming that at its peak, he had 85,000 concurrent viewers.

xQc received 150,000 concurrent viewers and, unexpectedly, has been silent about criticism of such a huge channel covering such a sensitive topic. He did, however, cite Amber Heard’s statement on Twitter, asking her to take ‘the L’ to his 1.3 million followers. 

The trial was also streamed by Pokimane, which peaked at 39,000 viewers during the reading of the judgement. During the trial, her reactions caused her to remove a tweet mocking Amber Heard’s abuse allegations. When inviting people to come watch her broadcast around the trial, she also used the term ‘watch party.’ 

Some viewers have complained that streaming the court case has turned a serious matter, which will have a material impact on more victims in the future, into a spectacle, with already wealthy streamers benefitting from the misery it causes. Journalist Nathan Grayson covered the new’meta,’ and as several of those he spoke with pointed out, the entire trial was being staged for entertainment by certain people present in the courtroom in order to earn public favor. 

Meanwhile, Hasan Piker, a well-known left-wing political content creator, has expressed his displeasure with other streamers who are reacting to the trial in the same way that they would to viral videos and trailers. Users on Twitter have also expressed their displeasure, with some questioning where the next proverbial meal ticket will come from.