Twitch has had a few different metas that have grabbed the headlines this year. Its most recent example – the gambling meta – is unlikely to snag as many. The first major trend on Twitch in 2021 was the hot tub meta, which included streamers – typically women – streaming in the Just Chatting category while in a hot tub. After some confusion over where this sat in Twitch’s rules, the platform legitimised the category and gave it its own tag, which was promptly taken over by otters. Next came the fart meta, a bastardised and sexualised version of ASMR which included farting, licking the microphone, and for some reason, dressing as a spandex Spider-Gwen while wearing a horse head’s mask and bashing said mask into the microphone. On this meta, Twitch was more decisive. Both Amouranth and IndieFoxx were swiftly banned, and the whole thing subsequently died.
I wrote about these two metas at the height of their popularity, initially imploring everyone to shut up about the hot tubs – not because it was without its flaws, but because it was becoming impossible to discuss without the misogynistic overtones of ‘girls ruin everything!’, often being screamed by guys who had just wiped their hands dry and put the lotion and tissues back in the draw. Once Twitch ‘legalised’ the hot tubs, it became easier to discuss the parasocial issues of sex work-adjacent activities on a platform accessible by and popular with minors, with systems ill-equipped to moderate. The fart meta also raised these issues, and with both Amouranth and IndieFoxx using the bans to promote their OnlyFans page, highlighted the problems with using Twitch for notoriety and to build connections with impressionable fans. I’m well acquainted with all three trends, and make no mistake – the gambling meta is the most disgusting thing to happen on Twitch this year.
Related: Twitch Has Found A DMCA Solution – But Is It Sustainable?In the gambling meta, streamers play games with gambling involved, while earning money from Twitch sponsors. This essentially means playing with house money before you get into any conflict of interest. Adin Ross, xQc, and Trainwrecks are the most notable streamers, with Ross recently revealing that he earns $2 million a month from these streams alone. xQc’s involvement here is particularly interesting, given how vocal he was about the hot tubs being “trash”.
Asmongold recently discussed the issue on Ethan Klein’s H3H3 podcast, saying "What I do know is, as a Twitch streamer, if Twitch lets this continue, it will hurt our website. Every single person on here will be negatively affected by that, through a loss of revenue, which will turn into loss of support, funding, which will then affect you as a viewer." He also called the streams “a disease.” However, he’s one of few voices of dissent – most other people seem happy to ignore it.
It’s easy to see why there’s so much less fuss being made about the gambling meta than the ones that came before it. It would be lazy to say “because the other two metas were about women,” although that is part of the problem. It’s far from the only factor, however. Sexuality has been part of gaming for a very long time. Just think of how many games include stripclubs – even if so few of them depict these settings realistically. There are also several overly sexualised female characters in gaming – Quiet being one of the most on the nose examples – as well as literal women as trophies in ‘90s era games like Duke Nukem. Sex in gaming is nothing new. But sex where the woman has agency? Where she’s a willing participant, even profiting off her own sexuality? That crosses the line.
Similarly, gambling and gaming have a long and storied history. How many times have you decried RNGesus in a game? How often does a dice roll – digital or physical – influence your progression? Even when facing bosses or online opponents, second guessing what move they will make, and trying to counteract it while trying to get an attack in yourself, is a form of gambling.
However, once monetisation was introduced, this link became far more insidious. While loot boxes are far less pervasive than they were five or so years ago, they still exist – most notably in FIFA 21, which trialled a mechanic that revealed which players were inside each Ultimate Team pack. It remains to be seen how this will affect FIFA 22. These loot boxes have been replaced by battle passes, by and large, which while not gambling in the traditional sense, do rely heavily on FOMO – with the exception of Halo Infinite. GTA Online meanwhile is extremely on the nose with its gambling, hosting a casino within a world that already asks players for heavy investment to participate in the first place.
I’m not against gambling as a concept. I’ve been to casinos. I occasionally gamble nominal amounts on sports. In another life, I used to be the floor manager of a betting shop. Done within your means as recreation, gambling is fine. But because of this experience, I’ve also seen how damaging it can be. I’ve had people beg me to ban them from the shop – for the record, if you asked to be barred from a betting shop, they legally must enforce this ban. I’ve seen people stroll in with hundreds of pounds and turn it into thousands, but I’ve also seen them turn it into zero. Less than zero, going into debt to get back to even. I’ve seen people throw machines to the floor. I’ve had people accuse me – that’s me personally, not even the shop – of fixing the Chelsea Man City game so they would lose their tenner bet.
I tend to think of gambling like drinking. It’s a perfectly reasonable hobby in moderation, and I participate myself. Having also worked in a bar, alcohol is also an industry I’ve been on both sides of. Gambling, like drinking, becomes unhealthy when it spirals out of control, and it becomes difficult to stop. If Twitch streamers were being paid by breweries to promote alcohol to their viewers – who are underage but not subject to the same age restricted advertising as traditional commercials – there would be outrage. Because gambling is now such an integral part of gaming, few seem to be batting an eye. Perhaps if they did it in a hot tub we’d realise how gross it is.
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