Mizkif backtracks on lucrative Saudi Arabian Twitch deal over fears of being “canceled”

Brad Norton
Mizkif looking at Saudi Arabia

Twitch streamer Mizkif was initially on board for a lucrative trip to Saudi Arabia as part of a new sponsorship deal, though soon backflipped on the partnership after educating himself and showing concern over being “canceled”.

Never one to shy away from controversy, Mizkif has once again found himself in the spotlight for the wrong reasons after details surrounding a deal with a Saudi Arabian organization spilled out online.

Having originally jumped at the opportunity to fly over and play Fortnite across a four-day stretch with a number of popular streamers like Emiru and Tfue, Mizkif was all locked in for the partnership.

However, upon learning about the region and its many well-publicized issues, with help from fellow internet celeb Hasan, Mizkif admitted his ignorance and pledged not to go.

Saudi Arabian event leaked

Although nothing has yet been made official, Twitch streamer ‘pokelawls’ was the first to let slip the plans for a high-profile gaming event in Saudi Arabia, one with Fortnite in focus.

Having been invited himself, pokelawls revealed that a range of top stars on the Amazon-owned platform were asked to “fly to Saudi Arabia for four days and play Fortnite”.

According to the email he received, the event hosts requested “three Twitter posts, three Instagram stories, two Instagram feeds, [and] one YouTube [post]” to promote the Fortnite-focused competition.

Fortnite teases possible collaborations.
The Saudi Arabian event was seemingly set to host a number of Twitch’s top stars in a four-day Fortnite event.

Described as a charitable event, the lucrative offer also made its way to the inboxes of Tfue, Emiru, and Mizkif, all three of which had allegedly locked in their involvement.

“You know what’s funny?” pokelawls asked. “At the end of the message, it says Mizkif and Emiru are going. Of course they’re f**king going.”

While a specific amount wasn’t confirmed, Mizkif didn’t shut down the notion of it being a six-figure partnership when later discussing his side of the agreement.

Mizkif learns about Saudi Arabia with help from Hasan

Having immediately come under fire for being linked to the Saudi Arabian event, Mizkif dealt with the fallout while live on Twitch himself.

“Why is everyone saying Saudi Arabia’s so [bad]?” He questioned in response to the pokelawls reveal now going viral. “What is wrong with Saudi Arabia?

“I thought it was for charity, why is everyone getting so mad? Chat, am I actually going to get canceled? What is this? I thought it would be a cool, fun experience.”

Soon calling fellow streamer Hasan to learn more, he quickly realized the complexity of the partnership. “I said yes to it a month ago,” he said. “Maybe I should do my research for sponsors.”

Seemingly ignorant of just about everything to do with the country, Mizkif honed in on the charitable aspect as to why he supposedly accepted the deal at first, opposed to the financial gain.

“I thought it was for charity,” he repeated.

Having since been run through a wide range of major concerns, he backtracked and agreed not to take the partnership and visit Saudi Arabia: “I’ve made my decision. It’s clear I didn’t know the ins and outs of it. I didn’t know the realities of what it was.”

So while Mizkif is off the event for now, there’s no telling if other prominent Twitch stars are also in the process of cutting ties. 

Emiru has followed suit, an informed source told Dexerto, as the fellow OTK member is no longer set to attend the event. However, Tfue’s status remains unclear.

We’ll be sure to keep you posted here as any further details emerge.

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About The Author

Brad Norton is the Australian Managing Editor at Dexerto. He graduated from Swinburne University with a Bachelor’s degree in journalism and has been working full-time in the field for the past six years at the likes of Gamurs Group and now Dexerto. He loves all things single-player gaming (with Uncharted a personal favorite) but has a history on the competitive side having previously run Oceanic esports org Mindfreak. You can contact Brad at brad.norton@dexerto.com