So, I was kicking back the other day, flipping through Twitch, and landed on one of Asmongold’s streams. Not the main one, mind you, but his other channel, zackrawrr. And I saw the little verified checkmark, the partner badge. It kinda hit me then, made me pause and think – wait a minute, why isn’t his main channel, the huge Asmongold one, partnered? It felt backwards, you know? A guy with that many viewers, been around forever, you’d just assume he’s a partner.
My first thought was, maybe he got banned or something? Or maybe there was some big drama with Twitch I missed. You hear stories, right? So, I started doing a bit of digging. Not like super intense research, more like recalling old clips I’d seen, checking out what people were saying on forums and stuff when I had some downtime. Just trying to piece it together from memory and what others were talking about.
Finding Out the Deal
It turns out, the whole thing is actually way simpler, and kinda more interesting, than some big secret controversy. Here’s what I gathered through my little search:
- He Was Offered Partnership: This was the first surprise. Apparently, Twitch didn’t snub him. They actually came to him, multiple times over the years, offering the partnership deal for the main Asmongold channel.
- He Said No: And here’s the kicker – he turned them down. He actively chose not to be a partner on that specific channel.
Why on earth would he do that? Well, that took a bit more poking around. It seems to boil down to one major thing: control. Specifically, control over ads.
You see, partners usually have agreements about running ads. Sometimes pre-roll ads (those ones that play before the stream even starts) are mandatory, or there are certain expectations. Asmongold, from what I’ve seen and heard him say, really, really dislikes forcing a ton of ads on his viewers. He especially seems to hate pre-rolls. He wants people to be able to jump right into the stream without hitting an ad wall immediately.
By not being a partner on the main channel, he keeps more control over when and how ads are run. He can choose to run them manually, or run fewer of them, without potentially violating a partnership agreement. It’s like he values that direct viewer experience more than the benefits partnership might bring on that channel.
The Alt Channel Angle
Then there’s the zackrawrr channel, the one I saw the partner badge on. That one is partnered. This was the piece that made it all click for me. It showed it wasn’t about him being unable to get partnered, or hating the idea of partnership itself. It was a specific choice for the main Asmongold channel.
Maybe he uses the alt channel for different kinds of streams, or maybe he’s okay with the partnership requirements there. But for the big, main stage? He wants full command over the ad situation. It’s kind of a statement, really.
So, yeah. It wasn’t some big mystery or conspiracy. Just a deliberate choice by Asmon himself, mostly about ads and controlling the viewer experience on his primary channel. Honestly, after digging into it, I gotta say I kind of respect the move. Sticking to your guns like that, especially when partnership is seen as the default goal for big streamers, takes some conviction. It made me realize not everyone’s chasing the same carrots.
