Will Twitch Ban This Dr Disrespect Skin?

How far will Twitch go to scrub each and every Dr Disrespect sighting? That's the question now that Rogue Company has introduced a skin based on the popular streamer's likeness. The "Dr Disrespect Dallas" skin basically replaces Rogue Company's Dallas character with the often loud, sometimes controversial YouTube star. At least one Twitch streamer, however, feels others on Twitch may be pressing their luck if they decide to use the Dr Disrespect skin while streaming.

In a recent Twitch broadcast, Shroud talked about Rogue Company's Dr Disrespect skin and the kinds of issues it could potentially cause for those who use it. When a viewer asked Shroud whether he believed bans could come as a result of people dressing their characters up like the Doc, Shroud offered up his take on the matter.

"I would say it's only tricky in that one part," Shroud said, alluding to the skin being a "100%" representation of the Doc's likeness. "Like, it looks like him and everything."

Shroud later added that a skin for a gun might not come under as much scrutiny. But because the Dr Disrespect Dallas skin is a "full-on, whole body" copy of Dr Disrespect's look, Twitch could potentially seize on that and go after those who use it.

It would add yet another bizarre twist to a story that's already seen plenty of them.

For those out of the loop, all the uncertainty surrounding Dr Disrespect's Rogue Company skin can be traced back to the start of the summer. On June 26, Dr Disrespect was banned from Twitch quite suddenly. Though Twitch itself was pressed on why the ban happened, the company never offered up any specific details. Dr Disrespect, for a while, also stayed silent on a potential reason for the ban.

Dr Disrespect eventually resurfaced on YouTube, and on the streaming side, appeared to pick up right where he left off. Though he was no longer broadcasting on Twitch, he did appear on a few Twitch channels — sometimes intentionally and sometimes unintentionally. Quite notably, rapper Snoop Dogg streamed a game of Madden NFL 21 with Dr Disrespect, giving screen time on Twitch to someone the company had tried to permanently eject. In response, Twitch added new rules to bar Twitch streamers from knowingly engaging with the Doc during their streams.

This brings us to the present day, and can perhaps explain why Shroud is dicey on how safe the Dr Disrespect skin is to use. It seems one can reasonably ask whether using the skin constitutes some kind of promotion for the Doc. If it is, Twitch could have a real problem with that. One only has to look at the actions the company's taken so far to understand how serious Twitch is about keeping Dr Disrespect off of its platform.

You have to wonder, though, if causing a commotion about a video game skin might be a bridge too far for some Twitch viewers and even some streamers. It's one thing to put general rules in place for broadcasts. It's another to tell streamers how to play their games. Twitch trying to police the content of games might come back to bite the company, especially if it causes fans to start watching streams on other platforms.

For the record, it doesn't look like Twitch has made any kind of statement about the Dr Disrespect skin inside Rogue Company, nor has it tried to alter its rules to forbid streamers from using the skin. It's been a few days since the skin launched, so it's still possible Twitch might decide to take action in the near future. It's also possible, however, that this might float on by without Twitch doing anything at all.

In the meantime, it seems the Doc's fans are at least enjoying the new skin. "That is just so awesome. Just look at what he has accomplished in his streaming career," wrote one fan. "I'm purchasing ASAP," wrote another.

One fan, seemingly aware of the dust-up the skin might cause, had a different opinion on the new skin.

"Ooo baby baby baby! This will look even better on Twitch!" they wrote.

We'll be sure to keep an eye out for any news on how Twitch might respond to Rogue Company's Dr Disrespect skin. It seems it would be unprecedented for Twitch to outright bar the use of a certain video game skin in a game — at least, one put there by the developers themselves. Stranger things have happened, though, so keep checking back for more updates on the matter.