Pokimane Puts Her Foot Down On Gambling Streams
Twitch has a gambling problem, and Imane "Pokimane" Anys isn't having it. She's one of the biggest streamers against gambling on Twitch and still is, despite friends like Felix "xQc" Lengyel who are deep in the meta. That didn't stop viewers from wondering if it was just a money issue, though. In one of her most recent streams, Pokimane stomped her foot on the question of if she would even consider a gambling sponsor once and for all.
In the middle of chatting with fans, Pokimane's audience asked her if she would consider a gambling sponsor if a company offered her a lucrative deal. Pokimane was in the middle of reading a Reddit thread about her friend Ludwig Aghren, who claimed he "didn't have a price" that could convince him to sponsor gambling streams, when the question came up. Viewers might have been curious because others, like "Dota 2" streamer Gorgc, have caved when approached with a profitable offer.
"I've had a lot of friends tell me that they have a number, right?" Pokimane told her fans. "Is it three million a month? Five? 10? Most people have a number."
However, Pokimane revealed that she couldn't be bought. She agreed with Ludwig's stance, saying she didn't have a price either. Here's why the streaming star won't accept any gambling sponsorships in the future.
Pokimane doesn't have a price tag when it comes to gambling
Pokimane revealed that she would feel too guilty about the money she's making off of fans if she were to accept a gambling sponsorship.
"If I'm making five million a month because my viewers are losing 10 million, the guilt would eat me alive. Genuinely," she said. In fact, she originally quoted a smaller number, but then factored in the money that Stake, one of the largest gambling sponsors, was likely also raking in cash from the audience.
Pokimane isn't the first streamer who said she'd turn down a gambling deal. As she mentioned, Ludwig also tried gambling and said he was tired of it, enough so that he decided he couldn't be paid for a gambling sponsorship. Mizkif also turned down a $10 million deal from a gambling sponsor because of both the possible backlash and possible requirement of moving to Canada.
Twitch made a move against gambling streams last year, but content creators and viewers don't expect the new rules to really limit the exposure that much. In either case, it looks like Pokimane won't be supporting gambling streams anytime soon. She's rejected the mythical $100 million offer in advance.
"Tell Stake to give me a 100 million a month offer. Watch me decline it," she said.