Jaryd “Summit1g” Lazar went off on the Twitch “streamers” for looping VODs of themselves playing VALORANT to boost their views.
Twitch broadcasters are looping old videos of themselves playing VALORANT to exploit thirsty viewers that are hoping for a chance at closed beta access. The situation is artificially increasing their view counts, and most of the viewers are likely idle, anyway.
If you haven’t been following the VALORANT journey, let me explain what’s happening to you. Nearly a month ago, VALORANT launched a closed beta of their game. The only way to gain access is by watching players stream the game on Twitch. If you have your Riot and Twitch accounts linked together, you have a small chance of receiving access to the beta.
Viewers still have a shot at getting access simply by leaving streams on and idling. Streamers have figured out that they don’t even have to live stream to get their numbers up, which creates a totally artificial viewer count and makes the VALORANT section of Twitch look like a complete joke.
So who’s really losing out in this situation? Well, this is bad for several parties. For one, legitimate streamers like Summit1g who put work into their streams are dropping in the ranks because they are not live 24/7 like these other streamers that loop old content.
Advertisers are also losing out by having their ads shown mostly to idle users. That’s not a good look for Twitch. Not to mention, streamers like Summit1g who are being negatively impacted may consider switching to other games.
Ultimately, it’s not a good look for VALORANT. As Summit1g mentioned, streamers like him might end up burning out a little more quickly trying to keep up.
