After popular streamer Imane “Pokimane” Anys announced that she’s capping all streaming donations to $5, Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg announced that he will not accept any online donations — period.
PewDiePie announced this during his stream on November 5, where he called the entire process “weird.” When a viewer tried to donate money to him during the stream, PewDiePie turned it down. When the potential donor asked why, the streamer answered, “I decided I don’t want to accept more donations. I appreciate just the chatting.”
He went on to explain that after he donated to small Twitch streamers in October, he didn’t feel right about it. “It was actually when I did my donating to Twitch streamer video that made me realize just how weird it is to donate money to people,” he explained. “Life if someone gave me that money on the street, I would be like, ‘What the f**k, no,’ but for some reason, if I’m streaming, ‘Pay me.’ I don’t get it. It just makes no sense.”
Is taking donations still okay?
Many streamers accept and even encourage donations, mostly because many of them don’t have the subscriber base to earn enough money from Twitch or YouTube. If they want to make streaming their “day jobs,” they may start with donations to get the ball rolling as they build a steady fan base. PewDiePie was quick to point out that he isn’t judging any streamer who accepts donations for whatever reason. “I’m not judging other people. From my perspective, it doesn’t make sense. So I’m not accepting it, I don’t think I need it,” he said.
Considering he has over 107 million subscribers, not to mention an exclusive, multi-million dollar streaming deal with YouTube, Felix certainly doesn’t need it. But as he acknowledged, while it doesn’t make sense for him, it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t make sense for other streamers.
