Why Joe Rogan Has Streamers In An Uproar

It's not a secret that gamers can be very protective of their favorite hobby. That's probably why recent comments made on The Joe Rogan Experience have gamers and streamers on the defensive. In a recent episode of his podcast, Rogan hosted Joe De Sena, a fitness author and the founder of both the Spartan and Death Race competitions. The conversation drifted to the topic of video games, which is where the controversial soundbites in question come in. 

"Video games are a real problem. They're a real problem," said Rogan. "You know why? Because they're f—king fun ... I have a real problem with them. You do them, and they're real exciting, but you don't get anywhere."

Rogan went on to unfavorably compare martial arts to playing video games. His reasoning here was that someone could spend a few years learning how to perform martial arts and become amazing at jujitsu, which could then lead to that person being able to open their own dojo in the future. Rogan said the alternative to that is to have spent those same few years just playing video games and waiting for the next exciting game to come out, which he reiterated was a waste of time. 

According to Rogan, a person could be "doing something exciting and fun, or you could just be playing f—king video games."

Joe De Sena said that his children often argued that professional gamers were making good money from playing video games. Rogan conceded that this was a real career at this point and admitted that he pursued a career in comedy against the wishes of his parents, who didn't think it was viable. However, he still felt that professional gamers had to be more "adaptable," due to the ever-changing landscape of the gaming industry.

Obviously, many of these comments didn't sit well with streamers and professional gamers that have dedicated their lives to gaming. The responses were swift and ranged from trolling to impassioned defenses of their way of life.

Two of the most high profile responses from streamers came from DrLupo and Ninja. Both of them responded in very different ways.

DrLupo shared the clip of Rogan talking about gaming and tweeted, "Listening to this podcast is a waste of time if it's all you do all day and wait for the next episode ... Anything can be harmful in excess. Video games have made many people successful, they're the cause for a majority of my friendships, etc."

Ninja, meanwhile, recorded a video response in which he tried to get Rogan to see things from his perspective. Ninja explained that he watched the full clip and really tried to see where Rogan was coming from. Ultimately, though, Ninja felt "Joe doesn't really understand the full context of what the gaming community is and how many different avenues you can be successful in, in gaming." Ninja also extended an offer to appear on The Joe Rogan Experience to talk about this subject in more depth. He urged his fans to educate themselves and to continue gaming.

On the other hand, some people extended an olive branch to Rogan or partially agreed with his comments. Esports host James Dash reached out to Rogan on Twitter and asked if he could come on The Joe Rogan Experience to discuss why video games are valuable to players. Meanwhile, Halo champion Snip3down agreed with part of Rogan's assertions that people need to better manage their time, even if playing video games is a huge part of their lives.

There were plenty of other people who weighed in with the thought that getting upset over Rogan's comments was just as much of a waste of time. Some people thought that the usual content of Rogan's show was silly enough that it could be seen as a waste of time by some people. In other words, everybody responds to different things.

To this point, professional Fortnite player Chica felt that some people just need that positive outlet in their lives, regardless of the hobby or sport. She tweeted, "I think the main problem here is the notion that a fun activity needs to produce money to be worth your time. What if it makes you happy?"

Despite the controversy, Joe Rogan's podcast continues to attract a massive number of viewers and listeners. In fact, Rogan recently made the news for signing one of the biggest deals in podcast history. Starting Sept. 1, Rogan's podcast will be leaving YouTube and will be moving exclusively to Spotify. The news of this deal immediately caused Spotify's stock to rise, and reports have suggested that the deal is worth upwards of $100 million.