In a heated podcast featuring Trainwrecks, H3H3, and Hasan, star streamer Felix ‘xQc’ Lengyel went further than just calling out gambling streams; he pointed to streamers promoting smoking and alcohol on their broadcasts, like Mizkif’s Fireball Fridays, as being just as dangerous.
The debate surrounding gambling streams on Twitch has hit fever pitch with the July 21 podcast between Ethan Klein, Hasan Piker, Trainwrecks, and xQc.
After xQc labeled the initial podcast with H3H3 — which he wasn’t on — unfair and “shameless” to gambling streamers like Adin Ross and Trainwrecks, the scope of ‘dangerous’ streams has now expanded.
Hasan and xQc got into a heated exchange regarding the regulation of gambling and other “dangerous vices”, with the French-Canadian adding that drinking and smoking streams can cause as much damage as gambling ones.
“The reason why regulations exist is because of the incalculable harm that it does when you’re promoting a dangerous vibe like gambling, even to a younger audience. It’s not even a ‘think of the kids’ argument at that point, it’s just a bad and wrong thing to do,” Hasan opened with.
“Why do you think there are restrictions around gambling streams, slot streams, and gambling in general? Why do you think you have to leave a certain state to gamble freely on an off-shore gambling website,” he then asked xQc.
“The same reason there’s laws around drinking, smoking. It’s a vice. It causes damage to people, their families, their mental health, it’s dangerous,” he replied.
Hasan then asked if xQc would accept a sponsorship from a cigarette brand to smoke on stream if he was “paid enough money”. It landed flat with xQc, who then highlighted drinking streams, like Mizkif’s popular Fireball Fridays, as being in a similar vein.
“You were one sitting here the other day with Mizkif who was at ‘Friday Fireballs’ and you didn’t seem to think that bringing that up would be an issue,” xQc said.
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Hasan explained there was a difference between the three, but xQc claimed he was “backpedalling” and “downplaying” it.
Piker added alcohol sponsors on Twitch have very particular rules to follow, and that there’s been far more dangerous drinking streams on the platform which have led to bans.
“In most circumstances, when you are promoting alcohol, the alcohol provider that is buying gambling on your inventory will request your demographics to make sure that a certain percentage of it is above the age of 21 or 18 if applicable,” he said.
“I don’t know if that’s the case, but regardless, if Mizkif was absolutely mainlining Fireball and getting absolutely wasted and then drunk driving, if he was doing that on stream, he’d get banned.
“Fedmyster unironically got banned for being sloppy as shit and out,” he added, “completely straight up drunk. He got banned.”
xQc argued the reason why they were banned — unlike other streamers promoting said “dangerous vices” — was because of the platform’s self-harm rule. The French-Canadian himself has streamed while drunk many times, including both while at home playing games and on IRL streams at bars.
The four moved on from the subject quickly after, but it has put a microscope on more than just gambling streams on the platform. Twitch has a 13+ age restriction.
Despite tensions being high, after the podcast wrapped up, xQc thanked the three others for the “good talk”, saying “we progressed somehow” on discussing the particulars of Twitch gambling and the new streaming meta.
