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Dr Disrespect Goes to YouTube After Twitch Bans the Online Gamer

Guy Beahm, a.k.a. Dr Disrespect, is joining personalities banned by some livestreaming sites giving YouTube a try.

Dr Disrespect Goes to YouTube After Twitch Bans the Online Gamer
An attendant prepares computers in YouTube Inc. booth at the Tokyo Game Show 2015 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan. (Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg)

Guy Beahm, better known as the online gamer Dr Disrespect, is joining the migration of personalities banned by some livestreaming sites who are now giving Google’s YouTube a try.

Beahm -- who used to stream himself playing battle-royale video games exclusively on Amazon.com Inc.’s Twitch before being banned in June -- plans to begin livestreaming Friday from his YouTube channel. He hasn’t signed an exclusive deal with the video service, and also plans to experiment with Facebook Gaming and streaming on his own site, ChampionsClub.gg, according to his spokesperson.

Though known for its short videos, YouTube is the second-largest live video-game site, trailing only Twitch, and it’s growing fast. For YouTube, part of Alphabet Inc.’s Google, welcoming creators who bring large communities of viewers means faster growth. YouTube isn’t actively recruiting banned streamers or signing them to contracts. Beahm has nearly 1.8 million subscribers on YouTube, while he had about 4 million followers on Twitch.

Beahm, 38, who had the 12th most-watched channel on Twitch in March by hours watched, according to tracker SullyGnome. In May, he was No. 20, with 4 million hours watched. He has 1.7 million followers on Twitter.

In a July interview with PC Gamer, Beahm reiterated that Twitch never told him why he was banned, and said he won’t be returning to the platform. Beahm had previously been banned temporarily by Twitch in 2019 for streaming from a men’s bathroom.

Twitch declined to comment on why Beahm was banned.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.