xQc explains why he could never be a role model amid Twitch gambling drama

Michael Gwilliam
xQc streaming on Twitch

Twitch star Felix ‘xQc’ Lengyel has been under fire for his gambling sponsorships in recent weeks – but he has no plans on stopping, despite some critics thinking streamers should be better “role models.”

Back in 2021, xQc announced that he would stop doing gambling sponsorships after seeing how many of his viewers could be influenced by the broadcasts, but in May this year, they returned.

According to xQc, he did this because he grew frustrated with viewers accepting other streamers promoting gambling, while he was always criticized.

Despite the French Canadian emphasizing that he’s not on Twitch to be a role model, fellow streamers such as ‘Myth’ took issue with his stance, claiming that streamers should care about what their audience is doing. This prompted xQc to speak about how there are many parts of his stream that could set a bad example aside from gambling.

xQc claims everything can be an influence

During a March 18 broadcast, the Twitch star revealed his streams wouldn’t be the same if he didn’t show anything that could influence his viewers.

“If I made everything about being a f**king role model and showing people what to do and how to influence them, no more swearing, no more playing video games more than six hours at a time ever, never,” the streamer began.

“I would never play games more than six hours at a time, because that promotes addiction to video games and it ruins your life, it ruins a lot of peoples’ lives,” he added. “People repress their lives because they play too many games.”

Lengyel went on to explain how his streams would end earlier as he would go to bed at a “reasonable time,” no longer eat takeout such as McDonald’s, or drink booze.

“That’s an influence,” he said, comparing those addictions to gambling. “They’re all bad and terrible. And they lead to consequences in terms of health, mental health and other problems. Therefore we shouldn’t do them. Yeah, no sh*t.”

It will be interesting to see if Twitch ever decides to take action with gambling streams, but until then, it seems like xQc will remain defiant despite growing concerns from fans and even his own father.

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About The Author

Michael Gwilliam is a senior writer at Dexerto based in Ontario, Canada. He specializes in Overwatch, Smash, influencers, and Twitch culture. Gwilliam has written for sites across Canada including the Toronto Sun. You can contact him at michael.gwilliam@dexerto.com or on Twitter @TheGwilliam