Stake.com-sponsored Twitch star calls for end to gambling streaming

Twitch gambling streamer Félix ‘xQc’ Lengyel has performed a dramatic U-turn and now insisted the platform should ban gambling.

Lengyel has more than 11 million followers on Twitch and is a regular streamer of gambling content. He is also sponsored by crypto operator Stake.com.

Lengyel himself revealed in August that he had wagered more than $685m since May 2022, although it is unclear if this was his own money.

He previously dismissed calls to ban gambling streaming from the platform, arguing the presence of loot boxes across a series of popular titles would mean a blanket ban for huge swathes of Twitch’s content.

This follows the fallout from streamer Abraham ‘Sliker’ Mohammed’s confession he had borrowed money from both fans and fellow creators to fund his gambling addiction. Mohammed admitted to scamming at least $200,000 to fund his gambling.

Reacting on his own stream, Lengyel said: “The reason why I think Twitch should ban gambling isn’t that gambling is bad enough to be banned. The fact is a lot of people, a lot of creators, 99% of people who stream gambling have deals and have a system that doesn’t display what gambling is and in a disingenuous, irresponsible way.

“That is the problem, that people cannot be trusted to show the actual reality of it. That’s the problem, they are not to be trusted. That’s why it should be banned, because you cannot trust your average streamer,” he added.

Several other leading Twitch stars have called on the platform to take action against gambling streaming following Mohammed’s disclosure.