After days of commotion surrounding his ban, William “WillNeff” Neff is back on Twitch.
On July 17, WillNeff was suspended for broadcasting with prohibited material creator Austin “Mr. Wobbles” O’Brien. The decision was dubbed “aiding account suspension avoidance” by Twitch. Mr. Wobbles responded by profusely apologizing for his role in WillNeff’s ban, notwithstanding WillNeff’s claim that Mr. Wobbles isn’t at blame.
Mr. Wobbles had been suspended for three years, with the suspension appearing to be permanent. Mr. Wobbles was unexpectedly unbanned by Twitch. This was a stunning conclusion to an unusual issue.
Pokimane defends Mr. Wobbles and accuses OfflineTV of the WillNeff suspension.
WillNeff and Mr. Wobbles were kicked off Twitch after they were caught streaming together while playing Rust on OfflineTV’s Rust service.
After hearing Mr. Wobbles’ plea on Twitch, streaming celebrity Imane “Pokimane” Anys spoke out about the matter. Pokimane stated that she did not believe Mr. Wobbles was at blame after he uploaded his video apologizing to WillNeff. Pokimane, on the other hand, faulted OfflineTV.
“What’s the deal with [Mr. Wobbles] being on our Rust server? Because having a banned streamer is a liability on its own. This puts everyone in violation of [Twitch’s Terms of Service] “Pokimane clarified.
Pokimane added on to remark that it was odd that only WillNeff had been banned, given that others had been hanging out with Mr. Wobbles as well. She also didn’t think hanging out with Mr. Wobbles was ban-worthy in the first place. She repeated that Mr. Wobbles was on a streamer server and that it was no one’s responsibility but perhaps OfflineTV’s.
After the Rust community called out Twitch, WillNeff was unbanned.
Pokimane wasn’t the only one who felt strongly about WillNeff’s suspension. Alistair McFarlane, a producer at Facepunch Studios, revealed that the Rust team contacted Twitch shortly after the ban on July 17. Despite WillNeff’s request that fans not harass Twitch personnel during his three-day suspension, it appeared that many members of the community couldn’t wait. Twitch’s actions felt “very uneven and targeted,” according to McFarlane.
WillNeff’s Rust skin fall would not be converted into a generic drop, according to McFarlane, because he was only blacklisted for three days.
“He’s been responsible for some of the server’s most memorable and amusing moments. He is deserving of any further exposure that Rust Twitch offers to his channel “According to the producer.
After WillNeff was unbanned, many people wondered why Rust had so much “influence” over Twitch’s decisions. Others speculated that Twitch was afraid of jeopardizing its relationship with Rust and other titles, as well as the platform’s future viability.