Viewer who sued Twitch for $25M over “simp culture” denied by judge

Bill Cooney

Erik Estavillo, the Twitch viewer who sued the platform for $25 million in damages for exposing him to “overly suggestive and sexual content from various female streamers” including Pokimane and Alinity while using the site has had his case denied by a California court.

Back in June of 2020 Estavillo, who has previously sued Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo and Blizzard, filed a lawsuit against Twitch in the Santa Clara Superior Court of California.

According to the lawsuit, Twitch’s “twisted programming net code” combined with OCD and sex addiction made it nearly impossible for him to use Twitch without being exposed to “sexual content.”

Estavillo named a number of female streamers in his complaint, including Pokimane, Alinity, Amouranth, and others, while requesting they be “permanently banned,” however, it doesn’t seem like the court agreed he had a case.

pokimane top views
Pokimane and others no longer have to fear being “permanently banned” as Estavillo requested.

In the tentative ruling posted by the court, the judge said the main problem with Estavillo’s case was the evidence he brought forward wasn’t enough to support the claims in his lawsuit.

“The “exhibits” submitted by Plaintiff [Estavillo] with his opposition do not identify, much less support, any claims under California law,” the ruling reads.

Basically, after the lawsuit was filed lawyers representing Twitch made a motion with the court to dismiss it, and the court did “with prejudice.” That means this saga seems to be over, once and for all, and can’t be brought back to court.

Alinity lies in her bed
A lot of people questioned how far Estavillo would get with his case by blaming some of the biggest female Twitch streamers.

Despite this, the self-described Twitch addict has said he plans on appealing this ruling to the 6 District Court of Appeals, but whether or not things will fare any differently for him there remains to be seen.

Estavillo, who was following 786 female streamers and 0 male streamers at the time of the complaint back in June, said he wanted $25 million from Twitch, along with having all of the female streamers he had mentioned “permanently banned.” With the court’s decision though, that happening now seems slimmer than ever.

About The Author

Bill is a former writer at Dexerto based in Iowa, who covered esports, gaming and online entertainment for more than two years. With the US team, Bill covered Overwatch, CSGO, Influencer culture, and everything in between.