Top Twitch manager says buying viewbots is ‘more important’ than quality content

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The head of a talent agency representing popular streamers such as Kai Cenat and Hasan is speaking out in favor of using viewbots, claiming creators are losing potential benefits by not doing so.

Reed Duchscher, who founded and leads Night Media, has collaborated with leading online creators like MrBeast.

I was really interested to see what he had to say about viewbotting – it’s such a huge issue in the streaming community right now. He wrote a whole article about it on X on March 2nd, and I couldn’t wait to read his take.

Duchscher argues that while platforms need to improve their efforts to stop viewbots, creators are actually hurting themselves by not using them.

Major streamer manager explains why creators should start viewbotting

Duchscher pointed out that bots are operating on Twitch without being noticed, and this actually helps the platform. A higher number of viewers, even if fake, is more appealing to advertisers.

He also mentioned that using viewbots can help channels grow, even if it’s done unfairly.

Okay, so I’d never actually tell anyone to use viewbots on Twitch, except… well, I’m mentioning it now. But honestly, it feels like everyone else is doing it, and if you’re not, you’re just putting yourself at a disadvantage. It’s a tough situation, but that’s just how it feels.

If a streamer is trying to gain traction in a competitive field where success depends on having a large audience—over 500 viewers—paying people to watch (clippers) and using bots to inflate viewer numbers might seem like a way to get noticed.

Duchscher admitted to experimenting with fake engagement, spending $180 on bots for a week to boost his numbers. This got him 1,500 followers, 225 fake chat participants, and 750 viewers during a live broadcast. He considered the $800 monthly cost a reasonable investment.

He went on to explain that brands currently can’t detect when viewers are fake (bots). He believes that for streamers, simply creating good content isn’t sufficient anymore; they also need to focus on how they promote and share their content – what he called “distribution tactics.”

It’s no longer enough to just create great content, he explained. Because things like fake engagement, paid promotion, and bots can manipulate rankings, those willing to exploit the system have an unfair advantage. He added that Twitch’s efforts to identify this manipulation seem to happen after the fact, and advertisers currently have no trustworthy way to know what’s genuine.

If using bots becomes common, creators will be forced to make a difficult choice: play fairly and risk being overlooked, or break the rules to stay relevant.

For years, artificially inflating viewer counts – known as viewbotting – has been a persistent problem. While platforms have made some progress, none have been able to completely eliminate bots at a significant level.

It’s unusual for people using bots to be banned, as proving they’re doing it is difficult. Platforms generally only step in when someone publicly reveals evidence, like when a streamer’s bot use went viral last year.

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2026-03-03 23:49