Tragic Details Of Asmongold
Controversy is the bane of many streamers. One slip up or long-forgotten tweet is all it takes to completely derail their popularity and progress. However, some streamers thrive on controversy, not because they like stirring up drama but because they've become known for speaking their minds. Asmongold is one such streamer.
Asmongold is a content creator who first became famous primarily for creating "World of Warcraft" videos, streaming solo dungeon runs, PvP grinds, mount hunts, and class guides. However, Asmongold has grown a following for his willingness to critique whatever he wants, whenever he wants. If there is something out there he hates, even in "World of Warcraft," you can bet he will give his two cents (and then some). Asmongold is outspoken and viewers love him for that. However, his blunt nature has occasionally attracted the wrong kind of attention.
Of course, those are all just surface-level details. Asmongold's unique outlook on streaming and life must have come from somewhere, right? As it turns out, Asmongold has quite the tragic backstory, which has informed much of his career.
He gave up work and college to take care of his mom
Many content creators claim they don't stream for the money; they do it because they love entertaining their fans. Asmongold, meanwhile, makes no qualms about his rationale. He started streaming for profit, but he had a very good reason to do so.
According to Asmongold, he began streaming and YouTubing to take care of his mother, who suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Asmongold tried everything he could think of to help her get better, including planting a garden to encourage her to go outside. Since Asmongold was too afraid to leave his mother alone while he went to college or work, and since he couldn't afford to hire a full-time nurse to look after her (he was too poor to afford hot water), he became his mother's stay-at-home caregiver.
Nursing his mother wasn't easy, and even when she had to use an oxygen machine, she still smoked, which inadvertently caused a fire at one point. Asmongold's mother was burned in the incident, but he noted that she was already in critical condition before the fire. She passed away not long afterwards in the fall of 2021.
He also started streaming because of dental issues
Because Asmongold wanted to stay home to take care of his mother, he didn't have any way to earn money with a so-called "normal" job. And so, he took to YouTube. That worked for a while, but eventually he learned he would need even more money, since his mother wasn't the only one in need of costly medical treatment.
During a 2021 video, Asmongold claimed he'd started streaming because he found the "Warlords of Draenor" expansion to be so boring that he didn't know what else to do, but that was only half of the truth. Asmongold mentioned another explanation on his alternate Twitch account, zackrawrr. Apparently, when he was around 25, he came home from the dentist with a gigantic bill. He needed major dental work, which would cost a small fortune. The news hit him hard, and Asmongold felt like there was no way out, that his YouTube income could never cover the procedure. However, he soon realized that if he streamed on Twitch, he would be able to make enough money for the dentist bill, along with other expenses.
Even though Asmongold apparently had to stream from midnight to morning and made do with two hours of sleep every night, things worked out. Ultimately, he turned lemons into lemonade and made a successful career out of streaming. As strange as it sounds, without that fateful dentist bill, he might not have found the impetus to start streaming and wouldn't be where he is today.
He had nightmares before his mother passed
Between taking care of his mother and streaming around the clock, Asmongold found he had little time to sleep. However, his lack of rest wasn't just due to a lack of time; he also had genuine trouble sleeping. When Asmongold started caring for his mother, he completed many of the chores around the house, but as time went on, he did more and more until he ended up doing everything. Whenever he woke up in the morning, he made his mother breakfast (dinner for him), went back to bed, slept for two hours at most, and checked on his mother. In 2013, his sleeping schedule got even worse.
At one point, Asmongold says he woke up to the sound of his mother screaming. This event left him traumatized, and for the next couple of months, Asmongold couldn't sleep for more than two hours without nightmares of that memory jolting him awake. Even though his mother was never in any danger during these episodes, Asmongold felt the urge to immediately check on her, which resulted in even less sleep.
While Asmongold eventually got better, his nightmares resurfaced shortly before his mother's death.
He gave up a few promising careers
Even though Asmongold has made a career out of playing video games, he walked away from a few beforehand — one of which he could not stand. One of Asmongold's first jobs was at the IRS. He enjoyed his work there, but he wasn't big on the socialization aspect, especially when it came to potluck functions. Because of this, Asmongold hatched a scheme to make sure nobody wanted to eat his food: writing "Barbecued Kittens" on the list of foods everyone would be bringing. To Asmongold's credit, his manager thought it was funny, and nobody asked him to participate after that. This may not be so tragic, depending on how social you are.
Asmongold's next job was a Cafe Associate at Sam's Club. After finishing his first day of work there, he stayed up until 3 A.M. applying for colleges and other jobs. Asmongold hated the Sam's Club gig so much that after his probationary period, he quit without telling anyone. He only stepped into the store again to collect his small paycheck.
Asmongold also could have been a lawyer. According to Asmongold, he had acquired a business degree and was preparing to transfer to a law school at one point. However, he had to abandon that plan because he felt his mother absolutely needed his assistance.
He has a ton of beef with Blizzard
When Blizzard initially launched "World of Warcraft," not only did audiences love the game, most fans still loved the company without question. As time went on, expansions were released, Blizzard merged with Activision, and fans learned about the shady sides of both. However, while many gamers fell out of love with Blizzard in recent history, Asmongold was ahead of that curve. Sadly, it seems Asmongold loves a game that does not always love him back.
Since Asmongold's livelihood has relied on "World of Warcraft," he has been understandably invested in the game and its quality. However, in his eyes, the game took a dive around the release of "Warlords of Draenor." Not only did he think it ruined Warriors, but he openly remarked that he felt Blizzard made a huge mistake by hiring Madeleine Roux as a writer. He's also intensely criticized many recent "WoW" expansions, including accusing "Shadowlands" of killing the game outright. And whether or not you agree with Asmongold, his refusal to mince words regarding Blizzard hasn't won over its employees.
One self-proclaimed Blizzard dev argued on 4Chan that Asmongold was hurting Blizzard's sales and engaged in "cyberwarfare" against the company (per Game Rant). Admittedly, this sounds super suspicious, but since Lead Product Manager Adam Holisky also called Asmongold an "a**hole" on Twitter, it's hard for fans to completely discount that this could have been a legitimate Blizzard employee.
No matter where you go on the internet, opinions are divided — and the way that people feel about Asmongold is no exception.
He's basically addicted to WoW
It's no secret that Asmongold loves "World of Warcraft." And even when he's criticized Blizzard, he's still supported the company overall. During a stream with fellow content creator Mcconnell, one viewer asked if Asmongold would ever stop supporting Blizzard. Asmongold responded by saying that no matter what he thinks of their games, he would probably always support Blizzard. Mcconnell took that as a sign that Asmongold was addicted to "World of Warcraft" and raised some valid points.
At first, Asmongold argued that he wasn't addicted because he streamed "Dark Souls" for a month and only played "WoW" during his off-time, but Mcconnell claimed that proved his point: Asmongold was still playing "WoW" even though he wasn't streaming it. Then Asmongold shifted to the claim that he is only "addicted to winning," but Mcconnell pointed out that Asmongold's definition of "winning" had deteriorated. It used to be, as Mcconnell put it, putting together the best gear, mounts, and mythic kills. What was Asmongold's metric for winning during the stream these days? A measly staff.
While Asmongold refused to accept Mcconnell's rationale, the audience was much more open. Mcconnell likened Asmongold to a nicotine addict, especially since he kept saying he could quit "WoW" anytime he wanted but chose not to. While Asmongold eventually relented and admitted he was psychologically addicted to "WoW" and liked the dopamine rush, his viewers chimed in to note that dopamine addiction is also a very real thing.
He has banned and been banned
Many fans like Asmongold because he always speaks his mind. If he has an opinion, no matter how controversial, he's going to voice it. However, he doesn't typically extend the same kindness to his viewers — and for good reason.
Since many of Asmongold's opinions are controversial at the best of times, he's acquired quite a few detractors, and while some stick to Reddit, others post their opinions of Asmongold's views on his videos. Recently, while streaming "Diablo Immortal," he decided to ban anyone who criticized the game and his playthrough, which included his purchases of the game's many microtransactions. When content creator and flat-earther Greekgodx participated in a livestream with Asmongold and insulted him for believing the Earth was round, some audience members reached out to say they felt like Asmongold hadn't properly defended himself. This won them a swift ban for their concerns.
But while Asmongold has banned plenty of people from his streams, it's easy to forget he's just as vulnerable to bans himself, although he's usually banned for situations beyond his control. During one of his "Diablo Immortal" streams, he was banned for showing the a racial slur on-stream — because a troll posted it in the in-game chat while he wasn't looking. Twitch suspended Asmongold for supposedly not "adequately addressing the situation," which didn't seem fair to the streamer or his viewers. Because of this, Asmongold has argued that Twitch unintentionally rewarded bad behavior by demonstrating anyone can ban a streamer they hate by spamming offensive comments during a livestream.
He had to clean up his life
Asmongold has earned a ton of money thanks to his career, enough to co-launch an entertainment conglomerate: the One True King Network, or OTK for short. Asmongold is a true rags to riches story, but the state of his living situation didn't reflect that for a while, and it may have cost him his girlfriend.
In August 2018, content creator Pink Sparkles announced she was in a relationship with Asmongold. They had initially met online after Asmongold spammed her videos until she DMed him back. The two bonded over "Fortnite," and Pink Sparkles moved in with Asmongold, but they broke up two months later in December, a little over a year into their relationship. According to Asmongold, there's a chance he might have driven Pink Sparkles away with his personal hygiene, but the relationship lasted longer than he expected. Pink Sparkles may have backed this up when describing the breakup in a series of now-deleted tweets (per Dexerto). According to her, she became depressed while living in Austin, but she hoped she and Asmongold could continue to be good friends.
Asmongold explained that for a long while, he rarely cleaned up after himself and showered sporadically. He was, in his own words, "an animal" and lived like "a fiend and degenerate." Since then, he has taken major steps towards cleaning up his act. Last July, he decluttered his room, and audiences congratulated him for taking steps towards a healthier lifestyle.