❘ Published: 2022-10-11T04:00:00
❘ Updated: 2022-10-11T03:15:01
In a new YouTube video, Ludwig broke down TwitchCon 2022 and discussed some of the biggest issues from the event following the backlash circulating online.
TwitchCon was held in San Diego this past weekend, with content creators and gaming influencers from all over the world attending the event. However, much of the discourse surrounding TwitchCon has been focused on the issues surrounding one particular foam pit section.
Content creator Ludwig spoke out about the event during his October 11 YouTube upload on Mogul Mail. The video, “the problem with TwitchCon”, included Ludwig discussing the foam pit and how – despite the danger it had been causing – remained accessible the whole weekend.
It had been reported that – throughout the event – content creators who fell into the pit experienced major injuries. Streamer Adriana Chechik endured a very serious accident after jumping in the pit, confirming online that she had broken her back in two places and required surgery. Another streamer, Loch Vaness was also injured after, explaining that they had dislocated their knee in the pit.
Ludwig revealed how he was in that foam pit without “knowing any of this happened” and that he actually took part in the activity after the injuries took place. Ludwig then said how, “they kept the booth open and even tweeted out” about prizes and winners, showing footage of the commentators talking about how Twitch is “all about safety” after both Chechik and Vaness were seriously injured.
Ludwig claims the foam pit wasn’t the only issue at TwitchCon 2022
Ludwig then went on to talk about the organization of the event. He mentioned the long queues of people outside and how the number of people in and around the venue was much greater than the capacity of the venue. As a result, Ludwig made note of how, “it was very difficult for people with accessibility issues, people in wheelchairs, to even get in a lot of these events.”
As a wheelchair user… I CAN CONFIRM THIS. I am so happy my dad was there to help or some serious things could have happened to me.
— 🏳️🌈Mousey TwitchCon #TwitchSMP (@Mousey_May) October 10, 2022
He also highlighted how certain graphics with streamers had included the wrong pronouns for certain content creators and lastly, recounted a scenario in which a female streamer was “licked” on the face by a patron when left alone without security. While Ludwig didn’t disclose who the steamer was, he revealed that the person was “doing a Twitch event and then while leaving, had zero security because the security was preoccupied with all the Minecraft people.”
When reflecting on the event as a whole, Ludwig did acknowledge how the growing scale of the Twitch platform makes TwitchCon a much bigger endeavor for the platform. However, he did go on to add that there are certain elements to the weekend that Twitch needs to address going forward.
“Twitch clearly has grown a lot. It’s a lot harder to run an event at this scale now and there is a lot to learn from this for them. Generally, most of the weekend went well but clearly a few big problems not to mention I have to call this out, a lot of the bullying and harassment that happened that I’m not very happy with.”