The video streaming site Twitch removed the PogChamp emote after his face, Ryan “Gootecks” Gutierrez, made controversial comments about the violence at the United States Capitol on Wednesday.
“We made the decision to remove the PogChamp emote after statements from the face of the emote, encouraging more violence after what happened on Capitol today,” said Twitch in his declaration on January 6.
“We want the feeling and the use of Pog to remain alive – its meaning is much greater than the person portrayed or the image itself – and it has a big place in Twitch culture. However, we cannot in good conscience continue to allow use of the image, “the statement continues.
Twitch said he will work with his community to create a new emote for the “hottest” moments on Twitch. The PogChamp emote displayed Gutierrez’s surprised face and is used in Twitch chats as a quick way to communicate a feeling of surprise or excitement.
Some popular Twitch personalities and internet celebrities have given their opinion on the news, including Jenny Nicholson and Sean Plott.
Good opportunity to create some kind of little creature for Pogchamp, a cute cartoon mascot. The name is Pogchamps, but pronounced the way I imagine a Frenchman would say it, like peaux-shoms
– Jenny Nicholson (@JennyENicholson) January 7, 2021
Yo @Muscular contraction suggestion for PogChamp: create a database of streamer and / or general faces. Whenever someone types PogChamp, display one of these faces at random. It would give a really nice crowd feel for a PogChamp spamming chat and allow meaning to be linked to all of us.
– Sean Plott (@ day9tv) January 7, 2021
Not everyone is taking the same approach as Twitch, with electronic sports expert Rod Breslau saying that FrankersFaceZ will remove certain emotes while BetterTTV will not remove them. He said he did not remove emotes due to controversy.
The leader of BetterTTV (BTTV) Night says that from now on they will NOT remove any Pog emotes. “in general, BetterTTV has never removed emotes due to controversy and probably will not do so as a result of this behavior. users can choose from our platform” https://t.co/3c5KSBuIUl
– Rod Breslau (@Slasher) January 7, 2021
GameSpot will continue to update this story as we learn more.