Fariha Bhatti 
Twitch streamer and content creator Zack “Asmongold” Hoyt’s has announced his departure from both his leadership position in OTK Network, the media organization he co-founded, and Starforge Systems following his Twitch ban.
Asmongold is no stranger to controversy. From general criticisms of his style of “reaction” content to his own comments claiming that “fat or ugly” streamers won’t get viewers, the streamer has landed himself in the spotlight many times in the past. However, his most recent Twitch stream was the final nail in the coffin for many.
On October 14, a short clip of Asmongold delivering an anti-Palestinian rant went viral. During a one-minute-long clip, the streamer made a string of remarks that were widely denounced as racist, which was quickly actioned on by Twitch. This resulted in a ban against his zackrawrr channel but the troubles for Asmongold aren’t ending there, it seems.
Why did Asmongold step down from OTK Network leadership role?
Asmongold announced that he is stepping down from his leadership position in OTK Network following his ban from Twitch.
On October 16, Asmongold posted a lengthy video titled “My Plans Moving Forward” on YouTube. With that, he’d also be released from sister-company StarForge, who called it a “mutual decision.” According to Asmongold, being a co-owner of OTK, StarForge, and then Mad Mushroom had taken a toll on him, and it was all “too much for him to handle.”
OTK Network is a streamer network he helped co-founded alongside Matthew “Mizkif” Rinaudo, Tim “Esfand” Esfandiari, and others.
In his video, the streamer apologized for his remarks but rejected the idea that what he said was racist. This was despite the fact that he stated that Palestinians “are not the same as us and they come from an inferior culture.” However, he did concede to “trivializing an ongoing genocide.”
Alongside stepping down from OTK Network, Starforge Systems announced that it “mutually agreed to part ways” with Asmongold. Asmongold is a founder of the gaming PC company, which is also an OTK Network sponsor.
Is Asmongold out of OTK Network?
Asmongold has stepped down from his leadership role with OTK Network, but has not announced a complete split from the group. The streamer is still shown first on OTK Network’s list of sponsored creators. There was no indication that his status as a streamer or owner in the company has changed as a result.
Asmongold’s alternate Twitch channel is still banned, which means he won’t be able to stream from his main either, as it would count as ban evasion. The ban will reportedly be in place for two weeks.
“My plan is to, when I get unbanned, I’ll keep streaming regularly, and I want to focus more on trying to do things that are fun, trying to laugh more with people rather than at people,” Asmongold said.
According to Asmongold, his recent ban and backlash has taught him that he “needs to fix his life.” In addition to addressing his anti-Palestinian remarks, he also discussed the viral picture of his messy room. The streamer said that he plans to clean his room as a way to get his life together.
