Pokimane hits back at Twitch streamers defending gambling meta: “It’s really bad”

Imane ‘Pokimane’ Anys has gone on record claiming streamers that take gambling sponsorships are directly taking from their viewers, with a pointed call out during her latest broadcast.

As the discourse surrounding the resurgence of the gambling meta generates more steam, opinions and feelings are intertwining with larger thoughts breaching into the public sphere constantly. With warnings being played alongside gambling content to remind viewers that the chances of them winning are minuscule, there is a push from prominent creators, including Ludwig, for the platform to be held accountable for the content it allows. Alongside her claims of Twitch’s responsibility, Pokimane went live May 19 with a barbed message towards streamers who take sponsorship deals. Accusing them of taking money at the expense of their viewership.

In a discussion comparing micro-transactions in mobile games to gambling, a reference to an extreme message posted by xQc to his Discord, Pokimane shunned the notion that both “bad” events have equal moral standing. “You’re comparing something that can be arguably bad, to something that’s really f**king bad.,” she said. “Why are people trying so hard to make gambling seem less worse by comparing it to other things. We can still all agree that this is really f**king bad, right?” Pulling no punches with her words, Imane laid the blame for the proliferation of gambling streams directly at the feet of the streamers that profit from it.

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Calling out the sponsorship streams as a reverse Robin Hood, Imane stated “I’m for taking money from the rich and giving to the people, but you’re rich, and you’re gonna make millions off your viewers.” she continued, “cause that’s how it works. Your viewers lose money.”

Pulling up a Microsoft Paint project to illustrate her point, Pokimane claimed that gambling sponsorship money comes from the following cycle. “Viewer loses money. Ruins life. Sadge.” In comparison to how ‘bad’ mobile games make money: “Rich investors. People buy game. Spend money. No life ruin. No sadge.”

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Reaching an impassioned crescendo in her argument, Pokimane finished her diatribe on the topic saying: “Just because other things that are less bad are legal, the means we should allow worse things? That’s such terrible logic for a society.”