Popular Twitch streamer Zach Hoyt, better known as Asmongold, is no stranger to controversy. He’s well-known in gaming circles for delivering hot takes on his streams, but some of his most recent comments have earned him some wider attention in the mainstream press and a 14-day ban on one of hisTwitchaccounts.
With more than 4 million followers spread across his two accounts, Asmongold is one of the platform’s largest creators. As a result, the situation has a lot of folks talking and even more asking questions about the ban duration, about what brought it on, what the fallout has been, and aboutAsmongold’s response to the whole situation.
The Story Behind the Asmongold Twitch Ban
Why Was Asmongold Banned?
While streaming on his alt account Zachrawrr, which he most often uses to talk about current events, Asmongold made some racially charged statements regarding the ongoing Israel/Palestine conflict. While he denied taking any explicit side in the conflict, the streamer made some disparaging remarks about Palestinians, notably saying that they come from “an inferior culture,” and that he did not empathize with the large civilian casualty rate the conflict has caused. Because statements like those are a fairly cut and dry violation of the platform’s Terms of Service regarding hate speech, Twitch reacted swiftly andbanned Asmongold’s Zachrawrr account for 14 days.
The banned account is not considered Asmongold’s “main” account, but it is where he streams from most frequently, as part of a years-long transition away from pure gaming content to general commentary. Asmongold’s 3.5 million follower account of the same name has not been banned, though it has not been active since the controversy.
Asmongold’s Response to the Twitch Ban
Shortly after the ban became public, Asmongold issued a statement via his X account addressing the situation. The post was apologetic for his lack of empathy toward the conflict, but seemingly made no apologies for other comments made about the Palestinian people. This post did little to remedy the situation andHoyt later stepped down from his leadership roles at One True King (OTK), Starforge Systems, Mythic, and Mad Mushroom, the former of which he co-founded.
A 20-minute-long video response was posted on Asmongold’s YouTube channel where he addressed the entire situation and its fallout in more nuanced terms. In the video, the streamer expressed more regret about the negativity he claimed has been dominating his content in recent years.
I look back at some of the things that I’ve said and done over the past two years, and I don’t think that I’ve been wrong about everything…but there have been ways that I’ve communicated and ways that I’ve acted, that are indefensible. Looking back on it, it’s just disgusting. –Asmongold
It’s too soon to tell if this change of heartwill have an effect on Asmongold’s content. Many in his core fanbase seemed to take issue with the video apology, prompting yet another response on the r/Asmongold subreddit mere hours after the video went live. In this response to the response, Asmongold assured his community that his overall content style and worldviews would not change, but that he would be seeking to maintain a more positive and less mean-spirited disposition while on stream in the future.
