Twitch Streamers Who Got Caught Cheating In-Game

Few things take the fun out of an online game faster than someone cheating their way to the top. No matter how much time gamers put into unlocking weapons, developing their personal skills, or coordinating with their teammates, it can all be ruined in a matter of seconds by someone who can see through walls and hit aimbot-assisted headshots.

An already bad situation gets worse when people cheat on a public platform such as Twitch. Beyond the basic issues with cheating to win a video game, viewers typically show up to watch people they believe are talented play their favorite games. The entertainment factor an individual streamer brings to the table with their personality goes hand in hand with the thrill of watching that streamer win or lose in real-time. When a viewer finds out a streamer has been cheating to get those victories, it can cheapen the experience for everyone involved.

While cheaters have plenty of tools at their disposal to hide their underhanded tactics, plenty still slip up — a few have even done so while streaming to their fans. Here are some Twitch streamers who got caught cheating in-game.

Few cheating related situations are as unfortunate as when someone cheats and then brags excessively about how naturally talented they are. When MrGolds decided to do that, he at least left the options box for the software he was using to cheat open, so everyone knew what was going on.

MrGolds was once a popular Call of Duty: Warzone streamer. One fateful day, after crushing it in another round of Warzone, he decided to take a break to gloat. While on stream, he said, "Just because I have a good recoil, I'm good at the game. This is the first time you see someone good at the game!"

However, while he explained his superiority at Call of Duty: Warzone to his fans, he pulled up his task manager, which also called up the display for another program running in the background – EngineOwning. EngineOwning, whose Twitter account advertises "Undetected cheats for CoD, Battlefield and more," is hacking software, and fans noted the options MrGolds had available to him. As reported by PC Gamer, MrGolds ended up losing his Twitch channel after the incident.

The software behind hacking programs is designed to slip past anti-cheat technology, and many include options to make aimbot-assisted shots look more natural on kill cams and streams. However, the consequence can be very real if cheaters choose to call attention to their actions, as Faze Jarvis found out.

FaZe Jarvis was a Fortnite player with a large following on Twitch when, in 2019, he decided to load up a separate account on the battle royale game with aimbot software installed. The streamer made no effort to hide what he was doing, announcing the aimbot in the first seconds of the video, and treated it more like an experiment to show fans just how lethal aimbot hacks can be.

However, Epic Games has a strict policy against cheating and served FaZe Jarvis with a permanent ban. Despite FaZe Jarvis' tearful apology, support from other well-known streamers such as Ninja, and an attempt to play again a year later, he remains banned from Fortnite.

One of the biggest streamers who got caught cheating in-game didn't necessarily need the help of aimbot software to shift the balance of a game in their favor. xQc resorted to some old-fashioned stream sniping to gain the upper hand during a Fall Guys tournament at GlitchCon, a decision that resulted in a temporary Twitch ban.

Stream sniping is essentially the digital equivalent of looking at another gamer's display while playing split-screen. Players can look at where opponents are, what they are doing, and use that information to gain an unfair advantage. While that may sound benign next to aimbot software, it is a massive problem in games like Call of Duty and has even prompted Ninja to threaten to quit Fortnite.

When xQc and his team decided to do this in a competitive tournament with money on the line during GlitchCon, Twitch took action. In fact, xQc wasn't the only streamer who got banned because of the stream sniping incident, and while those suspensions were temporary, it at least sent a message to viewers and streamers that cheating in any form was not tolerated.

Even if it seems straightforward, the life of a professional streamer isn't always easy, and requires a thick skin to deal with a constant barrage of negative comments. That environment can be even worse for women, and popular Twitch streamer Pokimane recently revealed the insane amount of people she has had to ban.

So, when popular Counter-Strike: Global Offensive streamer MissQGemini stood up for herself against viewers who accused her of cheating because of her gender, her words seemed commendable. Unfortunately, that all came apart just seconds later when she pulled up the cheat options window and proceeded to play a match with enemies visible through walls. Everything just got more uncomfortable when she tried to blame the incident on "Clara" in an attempt to divert attention away from what had happened.

Things stayed confusing after that. The Valve Anti-Cheat system reportedly banned MissQGemini, but she apparently transferred her skins to another account before that happened. Her Twitch channel, Thedjinnnn, is now inactive. All in all, the event was just another convincing argument for players not to cheat.

Perhaps one of the best things to do when you're caught cheating is to own up to the mistake and vow to do better. However, when Semper0311 was caught using wallhacks, a form of cheat that allows the user to see enemy players through walls and other objects in the game, he did no such thing. Instead, he claimed he had zero idea how wallhacks appeared on his computer. 

The problem was that he was streaming when he was caught with red outlines of the other "Destiny 2" players on his screen. His viewers saw the cheats in real-time, and, of course, someone managed to clip the gameplay, too — something like that will, unfortunately, live forever on the internet. To his credit, he eventually took responsibility (sort of), saying, "Yeah, I was cheating, the game's in a horrible spot."

Like in many other online multiplayer games with a reputation to uphold, Bungie takes hacking and cheating quite seriously. As noted by Game Rant, the studio issues bans regularly, and doesn't hesitate to drop the ban hammer when there is concrete proof, like video evidence from a stream.

Following the incident, Semper 0311 was subsequently banned from both Twitch and Steam.

When yyyunggg was caught cheating on stream in "Call of Duty: Warzone," he refused to own up to his cheats and, instead, continued to stream while using them, despite others calling him out. It's not a good look. Eventually, yyyyunggg's embarrassment was so great that he basically disappeared from the game altogether and deleted all previous gameplay videos on his account, as reported by Game Rant.

It's one thing to be called out by your community for cheating, which completely breaks their trust. However, it's something entirely different to be called out by a well-known esports commentator like Alan 'Bricey' Brice, who can directly affect your future in the scene. And despite what many may tell themselves, the idea of "going pro" is usually at the back of most streamers' minds. Any ideas yyyunggg may have had of making it big are likely now squashed.

Despite its cartoon-like appearance, "Fortnite" becomes serious business when a win is involved and there is money on the line. Developer Epic Games understands the need for competition, and it regularly host tournaments with cash prizes involving big-time streamers and well-known celebrities or athletes. NickEh30 is one such streamer, though his reputation may haven taken a hit at a more recent event.

Streaming yourself while cheating in an everyday setting is one thing, but when NickEh30 was caught cheating, he was in the middle of a Twitch Super Bowl charity event, playing "Fortnite" for the masses. At the start of a match, NickEh30 could be heard concocting a plan to land outside the bounds of the game map.

As reported by Kotaku, there was a great deal of debate over whether or not NickEh30 was genuinely cheating. Some feel that, by landing outside of the map, NickEh30 was clearly cheating. Others, however, have seen it as taking advantage of a loophole and skirting the rules just a tad.

Let's say you get caught cheating while on stream. You could apologize, or you could brag about creating a new account and continuing to cheat. One method will reward you with some breathing room to improve — and the other can kill your budding streaming career, because most players within the gaming community look down upon a cheater who actively enjoys ruining a game for others.

When hiddenintcloud was caught hacking in "Call of Duty: Warzone," alongside a party full of his friends, he laughed it off and claimed he would simply return "on another account" when caught. Oh, and caught he was, too. After clips of his cheat-riddled gameplay went live, however, folks over on Twitter tagged Activision and Raven Software, the former of which responded and asked for more information, including a link to his Twitch account. Shortly thereafter, hiddenintcloud was banned from both Twitch and "Call of Duty: Warzone."