Despite well known streamers being banned appearing in the news regularly, Twitch is a rather relaxed place without too many strict rules for content creators to adhere to. After all, if hot tub streaming
is allowed then it seems anything goes.
But, just as there are banned words in chat there are also games and types of games which are strictly prohibited from being streamer to viewers which could result in losing affiliate, partner, getting suspended or even getting permanently banned.
Which games are officially banned on Twitch?
The below list have been directly named as prohibited by Twitch themselves here.
- 3DXChat
- All Randomized Video Chat Platforms
- Artificial Girl 1, 2, & 3
- Artificial Academy 1 & 2
- Battle Rape
- BMX XXX
- Cobra Club
- Criminal Girls
- Cuckold Simulator
- Dramatical Murder
- Ethnic Cleansing
- Genital Jousting
- Grezzo 1 & 2
- Harem Party
- House Party
- HunieCam Studio
- HuniePop 1 & 2
- Kamidori Alchemy Meister
- Negligee
- Porno Studio Tycoon
- Purin to Ohuro
- Purin to Ohuro
- Purino Party
- Radiator 2
- RapeLay
- Rinse and Repeat
- Sakura Angels
- Sakura Beach 1 & 2
- Sakura Dungeon
- Sakura Fantasy
- Sakura Santa
- Sakura Spirit
- Sakura Swim Club
- Second Life
- Suck My Dick or Die!
- The Guy Game
- The Maiden Rape Assault: Violent Semen Inferno
- What’s under your blanket !?
- Witch Trainer
- Yandere Simulator
What types of games are banned from being streamed on Twitch?
Twitch have made it clear that this list is not exhaustive, that means that content creators should take the hint about what type of games these are and to not stream them. We’ve taken a look at this list to give you a list of what type of games are probably prohibited from being streamed on the platform.
- Sex/dating simulators
- Sexual assault simulation
- Ambiguously aged sexual suggestive games
- Stalking simulator
- Sexually suggestive
- 3D Nudity galleries
- Yaoi games (homosexual relationships)
- Pornographic games
- Blasphemous
Most of the games up in the list feature graphical sex or extremely sexualised scenes/character in some way or another, which should give a hint if you should stream the game or not. Whether they are harmless or not, Twitch do not want that content on their platform at all. Nudity is a no-no, even in the realms of the hot tub streams it is also the case, even when accidental.
Secondly, there are games in that list that depict sexual crime or the suggestion of it – this should be a no-brainer.
Lastly, Grezzo 1 and 2 do contain some sexual content but also an awful lot of blasphemy – we aren’t sure if that game is on the list for the former or the latter.
Features of games which could get it banned from Twitch
Twitch expand on the simple list to add some more context on whether or not a game can be streamed on their platform.
- The game violates our Community Guidelines as it applies to hate speech, sex, nudity, gratuitous gore, or extreme violence
- The official ESRB rating is Adults Only.
This expand the scope quite a bit and not necessarily similar games to the ones named. Hate speech is banned in every area including the games, as is sex and nudity. Lastly, if the ESRB rating is adults only it is prohibited by default regardless of the content of the game.
Interestingly, ESRB doesn’t cover the world, PEGI is the ratings board in Europe for example which goes to 18 which is the equivalent of ESRB 18+ Adults Only.
For clarity, if the game is NOT Adults only with ESRB but it is Adults Only in other territories it is allowed.
Based on these rules, the following games should de facto be banned from being streamed on Twitch. Twitch has not officially named these and it may not necessarily get a streamer banned.
- Crystal Fantasy
- Cyber Photographer
- All Nude Cyber
- All Nude Glamour
- Riana Rouge
- All Nude Nikki
- Body Language
- Wet: The Sexy Empire
- Playboy Screensaver: The Women of Playboy
- Sexy Games
- Singles
- Snow Drop
- Tokimeki Check-in!
- Water Closet: The Forbidden Chamber
- X-Change
- Critical Point
- Peak Entertainment Casinos
- Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude Uncut and Uncensored
- Lula 3D
- Playboy: The Mansion: Private Party
- Manhunt 2 (uncut version)
- Ef: A Fairy Tale of the Two
- eden* PLUS+MOSAIC
- Hatred
- Seduce Me
Although most of those games are quite old, retro is still a big thing on Twitch.
Why are some games banned on Twitch?
Twitch are between a rock and a hard place when it comes to games being banned – they uphold guidelines as best as possible but clearly some decisions have been manually made, particular with the subject of sex, sexually suggestive themes and sexual violence.
Most games which are banned do deserve it as it can bring the platform into disrepute and seen as saying that some themes are acceptable or even encouraged. Twitch has a reputation to uphold and want to ensure that it is not actively hosting content which could be harmful.
Harmful content is a grey area, as violent games are technically harmful as it depicts it, but most are not banned. Content with nudity, however, is strictly banned. Although technically not games, gambling websites/content is banned as it could lead to creating addictions in content creators and viewers. This makes sense.
Games can be banned if they contain any harmful words.
Twitch understand that poor publicity harms their bottom line and that there are some subjects which can harm it more than others, equally they understand that most of the banned games did not have the highest amounts of viewers and were not profitable anyway.
At the end of the day, Twitch ban certain games because they do not want the association or the attention they bring.
However, this brings us to the paradox that some games technically should be banned by Twitch.tv’s own standards, but they are not.
Why are some games that should be banned not banned?
Where Twitch falls short is evidence of turning a blind eye to some content which does infringe on their own guidelines, particularly when it comes to violence and gore. For example Call of Duty, Doom, Grand Theft Auto, Mortal Kombat and Resident Evil 7 are extremely violent and contain lots of gore but they are not only allowed but some of the biggest franchise on Twitch.
They get a pass because Twitch needs these games to be on but they should in theory be banned as they do violate the guidelines Twitch state. There is also the suggestion that has merit that Twitch ban certain games as to prevent parents from allowing them to watch/stream on Twitch.
Perhaps the most egregious example of the prohibited games guidelines being violated is The Witcher 3, which contains almost every bannable feature of a game all at once. Violence, gore, drug abuse, sexual content and strong language.
Twitch and other streaming platforms can’t afford to not have these games on their site.
