xQc gives honest verdict on Twitch streamers begging for subscriptions
Twitch: xQcOWPopular Twitch streamer Félix ‘xQc’ Lengyel has criticized streamers who guilt trip their audience into donating to them via subscriptions after taking the decision to quit their full time job in favor of streaming.
xQc is a streamer with a follower base of a whopping four million followers on Twitch, playing a variety of games for his loyal audience, including hopping on the recent Among Us hype entertaining fans across the globe.
In recent weeks, fellow streamer Pokimane announced that she’s introducing a cap to donations on her channel, meaning that fans will be unable to donate more than $5 in one go. This was with the intention of encouraging people to donate to smaller streamers, and charities.
xQc/PokimanexQc felt that the decision was a good one, but did express his concern that audiences would then have the same expectation for all streamers, potentially shaming creators who choose not to. Instances like this have encouraged streamers and fans alike to think more broadly about donation culture on platforms like Twitch, and xQc certainly had something to say about streamers that beg their followers for donations.
xQc shares his opinion on streamers asking for donations
On November 8, xQc brought up the topic during a Minecraft stream. “I’ve seen it all okay. I’ve seen people almost blame their audience, or their viewers, for quitting their job to go full-time.”
He went on to criticize those who “say ‘guys, I quit full-time and money’s not kicking in, so you guys are gonna have to subscribe,’” to which he responded “no, f**k off b**ch, the f**k is your problem? Don’t do that dude, who thinks like that?”
When a comment appeared saying “easy for you to say,” xQc shared his story of the times where he’d stream with 150 viewers. “Nobody donated, I was making two bucks a week. And I had the same exact take.”
He finished up by saying “it doesn’t matter. You shouldn’t guilt the viewers for something you did, a choice that you made, a career path that you took. That’s so weird.”
It certainly seems that the culture around donations is shifting, particularly amid the climate of demonetization and DMCA claims. As more streamers give their take on donation culture, the debate appears to be getting more intense.