Twitch streamer Dr Disrespect, the eighth most-followed channel, has branded the platform “clueless”, after their decision to place Fortnite World Cup winner Kyle ‘Bugha’ Giersdorf on the front page, while he was playing with Ninja.
Tyler ‘Ninja‘ Blevins, previously the number one streamer on Twitch before his move to rival platform Mixer, was playing with Bugha for the weekly Friday Fortnite competition.
Coming off his big win at the World Cup, Bugha has become the fastest growing streamer, gaining over 400,000 followers, and Twitch are understandably keen to promote the rising star.
However, Dr Disrespect thinks that their timing could not have been worse, as the heavily promoted Bugha’s stream just as he played duos with Ninja in Fortnite – who had just, very publicly, shunned Twitch for Mixer.
“This is not a direct jab at Bugha, it’s not, has nothing to do with him,” the Doc began, “it’s just the fact that Bugha is playing alongside someone that just left their platform, to go to another platform, ‘so lets put Bugha on the front page and highlight him’.”
Perplexed by Twitch’s decision-making, Dr Disrespect continued “these guys are so stupid, Twitch is clueless. It’s pretty apparent. While there’s other quality streamers – and you’re looking at the best.”
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Could Dr Disrespect leave Twitch?
The Doc has often referred to himself as “the face of Twitch”, but following Ninja’s departure, there has been speculation that other top streamers could be lured away from the dominant platform.
However, Dr Disresepct, real name Guy Beahm, has never shied away from criticizing Twitch in the past, so this reaction is not necessarily linked to any possible move to Mixer.
Continuing his rant, the Doc stated that Twitch needs to “wake up”, and realize that they could be pushing away their top creators: “some people just aren’t happy.”
It is likely that Ninja may not have been the only streamer approached by the Microsoft-owned streaming rival though, and Dr Disrespect would certainly be a prime candidate given his following and influence.
On the other hand, Ninja’s departure may also blow the competition for top spot wide open, and Dr Disrespect could be eyeing up his chances to become number one on the platform, and truly solidify himself as the ‘face of Twitch’.