Video streaming site Twitch has removed the PogChamp emote after its face, Ryan “Gootecks” Gutierrez, made controversial comments on Wednesday about the violence at the U.S. Capitol.
“We have taken the decision to remove the PogChamp emote following statements from the emote that encourage further violence after what took place in the Capitol today,” Twitch said in its statement on January 6th.
“We want the sentiment and use of Pog to survive – its significance is far greater than that of the person portrayed or the image itself – and it has a large place in Twitch culture. However, we can not good conscience continues to make it possible not to use the image, ”the statement continued.
Twitch said it will work with its community to create a new emblem for the “most hype” moments on Twitch. The PogChamp emote displayed Gutierrez’s surprised face and is used in Twitch chats as a quick way to communicate a sense of surprise or excitement.
Some popular Twitch personalities and internet celebrities took to the news, including Jenny Nicholson and Sean Plott.
Great opportunity to create some kind of little creature for pogchamp, a cute happy lucky mascot. Name is Pogchamps, but pronounced like I think a French guy would say it, like peaux-shoms
– Jenny Nicholson (@JennyENicholson) 7 January 2021
Yo @Twitch suggestion for PogChamp: create a database of streamer and / or general faces. When someone types PogChamp, one of the faces appears randomly. Will give a very nice crowd feel to a conversation with PogChamp and allow the meaning to be linked to all of us.
– Sean Plott (@ day9tv) 7 January 2021
Not everyone follows the same approach as Twitch, with sports expert Rod Breslau saying FrankersFaceZ will remove certain emotions while BetterTTV will not remove them. It is said that it does not remove emotions due to controversy.
BetterTTV (BTTV) leader Night says they will not remove any Pog emotions from now on. “In general, BetterTTV has never removed emotions due to controversy, and most likely will not be due to this behavior. Users may have the choice on our platform” https://t.co/3c5KSBuIUl
– Rod Breslau (@Slasher) 7 January 2021
GameSpot will continue to update this story as we learn more.