Asmongold Steps Down Following Twitch Ban
Longtime Twitch streamer Zack "Asmongold" Hoyt has announced he will step away from his leadership positions with esports organization OTK and PC supplier Starforge Systems following the backlash to controversial statements he made on stream regarding the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
Earlier this week, Asmongold was discussing the conflict in Gaza and described the people of Palestine as coming from "an inferior culture." After widespread backlash to these comments, he received a 14-day suspension on Twitch.
Asmongold released a statement on October 14, 2024, apologizing for the comments, stating that "Of course no one deserves to have their life destroyed even if they do things or have views I find regressive."
Looking back on it, I was way too much of an asshole about the Palestine thing
— Zack (@Asmongold) October 15, 2024
My bad
Of course no one deserves to have their life destroyed even if they do things or have views I find regressive
You guys deserve more than me saying stupid shit like that, I'll do better
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Now, the streamer has followed up with a 20-minute video discussing the situation, in which he states that he "deserved" the response and the ban, describing his own comments as "disgusting."
"I think I have been slowly devolving into the most mean-spirited...rude, callous, psycopathic version of myself."
He continues discussing his plans to make changes to his life and actions as a result of the feedback he received during this controversy, which includes stepping back from his leadership positions with OTK and Starforge.
"I think I can be a lot better than what I am now," he said. He plans to resume streaming when the 14-day suspension is up, but to reduce the amount of hours he is live week to week.
Asmongold rose to prominence as one of the most popular World of Warcraft streamers on Twitch. His YouTube channel has nearly 3 million subscribers. Twitch viewership data for his channel is currently. He founded OTK, which hosts esports and streaming events, alongside fellow content creators Esfand, NMPLoL, Mizkif, and Tips Out (as well as esports commentator Rich Campbell, who parted ways with the organization following his own controversy in 2022).
At time of writing OTK has not made an official statement regarding Asmongold's decision.
Trent has covered esports since the birth of the LCS. He also led content strategy and served as Senior Writer for The Esports Observer and Sports Business Journal, and worked on the development team for Rushdown Revolt.