This Ban Confirms What We Suspected Between Dr Disrespect And Twitch
What does the complex game of chess have to do with Dr Disrespect's infamous Twitch ban? After American chess grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura was apparently banned from Twitch for daring to show Dr Disrespect's face, the two categories unfortunately intersect quite a bit.
Almost two years after his permanent ban from Twitch, Dr Disrespect posted a surprising update on his feud with the streaming service. He claimed that he'd "resolved [his] legal dispute with Twitch. No party admits any wrongdoing." The Doc didn't go into details about what he and Twitch discussed – or if he even met directly with Twitch representatives in the first place. One thing was clear, though: Dr Disrespect was ready to move on from reports of the Twitch drama, and to stop fans from speculating about what went down between him and (as he calls the platform) "the purple snake." The only thing that really mattered was that Dr Disrespect would continue streaming on YouTube Gaming and would not be returning to Twitch.
However, the announcement that the Doc had ceased his pursuit of legal action against Twitch made many Twitch streamers think that he would be available to play games like "Call of Duty: Warzone" with them once again. As long as Dr Disrespect wasn't the one hosting the stream, it should be fine, right? Hikaru Nakamura had to learn the answer the hard way.
What did Nakamura do?
Nakamura is one of the youngest chess grandmasters in the world, and frequently participates in professional tournaments. He additionally streams chess games – both his own and others' – on Twitch. When watching others' games, Nakamura provides expert analysis of the games as they happen, imparting a better knowledge of the admittedly complex game to his audience. Nakamura felt like he couldn't pass up streaming and commenting on a match between Dr Disrespect and DrLupo – who also left Twitch a while back. Some streamers, like Cloakzy, think it might be worth risking it all to play with the Doc, but it seemed that Nakamura genuinely didn't think he'd get in trouble for streaming the Doc's match.
Nakamura tweeted to his followers that he'd be streaming the match, writing, "we have two PhDs of streaming here, going at it. Tune in!" Nakamura's followers on Twitter tried to warn him that streaming Dr Disrespect on Twitch might result in punishment from Twitch itself, but he decided to stream the match anyway. Shortly after, he was suspended from Twitch for three days.
After being banned, Nakamura posted a forlorn message to Twitter, writing, "The Doc tweeted that things are settled with twitch... guess he was wrong. See everyone in 3 days." Like many others, it seems that the chess grandmaster misunderstood the Doc's statement, interpreting his message that things were "settled with Twitch" as a license to show the streamer on Twitch yet again. However, that wasn't the case, and it seems Nakamura received a swift ban for his troubles. Fans in the comments weren't sympathetic, for the most part, and many seemed downright confused.
Fans didn't pity Nakamura
One commenter noted that the ban wasn't Twitch's fault, arguing, "Fam, you streamed a banned streamer. That's clearly against established ToS. When doc said it was sorted, he meant the legal side, [but] he's still banned off Twitch." Many others agreed with that sentiment, adding that even if things are settled legally between the two parties, the Doc's ban hasn't been reversed.
Popular "World of Warcraft" streamer Asmongold also commented on the situation, saying, "This seems weird considering dozens of streamers (including me) watched both the Ice [Poseidon] NFT scam controversy videos and reacted to Doc's studio drama regarding NFTs." Asmongold went on to say that Twitch's rules didn't seem clear, and that the company does not behave consistently when it comes to doling out punishments. Another commenter responded, wondering if Twitch recognized a distinction between livestreams (like the one Nakamura was watching) and prerecorded videos.
Thankfully for Nakamura, his ban is only set to last for three days, and then he can get back to discussing chess on Twitch. However, the incident did answer an important question many streamers had. It looks like showing Dr Disrespect on Twitch at all, regardless of his legal status with the company, is forbidden for the foreseeable future.
With or without Dr Disrespect, chess has enjoyed increased popularity on Twitch, experiencing an increase in streams in 2021. Nakamura has discussed Dr Disrespect's chess abilities before, analyzing his game on Twitch, but calling him the code name "Dr NotSoPolite." While discussing the Doc's game didn't land him a ban before, watching and reacting to a live stream certainly did.