“In accordance with current local guidelines, there will be no covid-19 vaccination or testing requirements at TwitchCon San Diego,” the Amazon company wrote. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.) “While masks are encouraged, they are currently not required to attend TwitchCon. Please make sure you are familiar with our current health and safety measures before purchasing your ticket to TwitchCon.”
The company further warned that these guidelines “may change at any time, as determined by federal or local government agencies, location and/or Twitch.”
This update took streamers by surprise, especially with reports trickling out that San Diego Comic-Con — which took place in late July at the same convention center booked to host TwitchCon — managed to spread the virus to some attendees (including “A Game of Thrones author George RR Martin) despite mask and vaccine mandates.
As a platform, Twitch connects creators and viewers live, often from the comfort of the streamer’s home. The dynamic has enabled a number of immunocompromised individuals to thrive on the platform and come together with their communities. But now some of those creators say they’ve been out in the cold.
“Absolutely not,” astronomer, podcaster and Twitch streamer Dr. Pamela L. Gay wrote on Twitter. “TwitchCon, I’m not going to die for you. We, immunocompromised streamers, just stay home.”
“In a way, I’m biting the hand that feeds by telling me not to go to TwitchCon,” said Steven Spohn, a prominent video game industry advocate for people with disabilities who sometimes collaborates with Twitch. “But given the number of disabled/immunocompromised people who would like to attend this event, I think it would be irresponsible to remain silent.”
Even some Twitch contributors, like lead community producer Zachary Ryan, have pointy streamers and fans to Twitch’s official feedback page, where a “TwitchCon Mask Requirement” currently has over 3,200 upvotes.
Non-immune compromised creators and industry figures are also speaking out.
“Unsubscribe from TwitchCon”, wrote Devin Nash, co-founder of Novo, a talent and creative agency that has worked with numerous top streamers. “What is the cost benefit of losing 2+ weeks due to illness? I just don’t see the practical use of these conventions unless the organizers do the bare minimum to keep people healthy.”
This follows a year of video game conventions and events returning despite demonstrable dangers. After the Game Developers Conference in March, numerous attendees (including this author) contracted covid. In May, a beloved member of the community surrounding the PAX series of annual gaming conventions, Dawn ‘Deestar’ Wood, died after contracting Covid at PAX East. Masks and vaccinations were required for both events.
Twitch and other event organizers also failed to comment on the growing Monkeypox outbreak, which spreads primarily through skin-to-skin contact, which increases the risk at crowded gatherings.
Despite the string of cautionary tales, organizers behind other conventions seem poised to pursue only personal executions of their events in the future. GDC, which allowed some speakers to speak remotely in both 2021 and 2022, will return to pre-covid ways next year.
“‘We cannot accept proposals for remote presentations at this time and are only planning face-to-face meetings in 2023′” Heidi McDonald, Boss Fight Entertainment senior writer wrote this week on Twitter, featuring a response from GDC organizers to an earlier survey.
“Well, it was great while it lasted,” McDonald wrote.
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