Out of the top 300 Counter-Strike streamers on Twitch, 120 are reportedly still sponsored by gambling websites

A Barron's news report published on August 15, 2024, has claimed that 120 out of the 300 top Counter-Strike streamers on Twitch have gambling sponsorships from CS:GO skin-betting websites. For context, gambling sponsorships, be it in the context of casino games or video games, are technically banned from the Amazon-owned website.

For the unaware, video games like the Counter-Strike titles allow players to buy and sell cosmetic skins on their in-built Valve marketplace in exchange for real-world money. This leads third-party skin-betting websites to advertise themselves as places where players can get the same items for cheaper by betting on them.

The act of gambling on livestreaming websites with younger audiences has generated a lot of controversy over the last couple of years. Many in the online community have called out Twitch for not enforcing the ban on Counter-Strike skin betting, which came into effect in 2023 after public outcry.

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"Do your jobs and ban them": Streaming community reacts to report suggesting platforms like Twitch still allow Counter-Strike gambling-sponsored streams

Gambling on streaming websites such as Twitch, YouTube, and Kick has been a hot topic of debate, with many content creators speaking for and against it over the years. Popular figures in the Counter-Strike community have also called out platforms for continuing to let it happen.

Last year, popular streamer ohnePixel publicly called out Twitch for allowing such content on its website despite there being community guidelines against them. At the time, ohnePixel insinuated that the ban on Counter-Strike skins gambling was a mere "PR stunt."

According to the recent Barron's report, things have not changed much in the one year since Twitch introduced the ban on Counter-Strike skins gambling. After @ZachBussey shared the report on X, some called on streaming platforms to do their part in tackling the issue.

"Do your jobs and ban them all," wrote X user @Biden11614705 while tagging several accounts related to Twitch.

The news gained significant traction on other social media websites, including the r/LivestreamFail subreddit. Community members pointed out that gambling sponsorships for streamers were not restricted to Counter-Strike and commented on how detrimental they are to younger audiences.

"A lot of Rust streamers are sponsored by Rust skin gamba sites as well, right?," wrote Redditor @snowyeti3490.

"CSGO is the biggest kid friendly casino in the world and the rates are worst than a f**king slot machine," claimed @Arakismo.

"Twitch implemented the rule for this and they literally didn't do anything with it, there's a f**k ton of people in english and other languages just straight up advertising constantly on screen and below the scamming gambling sh**," complained @Haunting_Account_439.

Gambling on streaming platforms remains a controversial topic, with popular figures like xQc still commenting on the backlash personalities like him and Trainwreckstv get for doing sponsored betting streams.