The 'Genius' Twitch Hack Might Not Be What It Seems

Twitch has always been a bit of a numbers game, and streamers are constantly looking for ways to expand their audiences. Ludwig knows this better than most, and so when TommyInnit suggested a new way to grab huge amounts of followers, Ludwig gave it a shot — only to realize that the gains were not what they seemed.

Ludwig is no stranger to putting in hard work to reach new fans. The streamer once even took Ninja down a peg when he set the new record for most Twitch subscribers during his Subathon, an event where he pledged to continue to stream as long as he kept gaining subscriptions. That event ended up lasting for 31 straight days.

Beyond that, Ludwig has also demonstrated that he's willing to put in the money needed to grow his community. During the Subathon, the streamer donated $5 to charity for each new subscriber he earned, and Ludwig also paid the moderators who helped him reach his goal a staggering amount of money after the event was over. However, it's hard to resist a method of gaining followers that doesn't involve spending an entire month live on stream, so when TommyInnit shared a quick way of adding new viewers, Ludwig checked it out. While Ludwig did grab a considerable number of followers within seconds, the chat revealed that there was a chance that none of those followers were new. Here's why TommyInnit's genius Twitch hack wasn't quite what it seemed.

While Ludwig may be known for his dedication to his streaming channels, the streamer recently took a well-deserved break, which he announced on Twitter in early October. He explained that after uploading a video to YouTube every day for two years, he would take a couple of weeks off to tour Italy.

The streamer finally made it home on October 16 and was soon back on Twitch, creating the same great content that fans log in for and, as always, looking for ways to reach new people. So when one of the fastest-growing "Minecraft" streamers, TommyInnit, shared a trick that had supposedly scored him 7,000 followers, Ludwig decided to give it a chance.

The Twitch hack is simple. As demonstrated by TommyInnit, all the streamer needs to do is pull up their Activity Feed toolbox on their PC, which displays some backend information about what is happening on the feed that is usually only seen by the streamer and maybe moderators. Then, the streamer simply announces that anyone who follows will have their name pop up on screen — something usually reserved for subscribers.

When TommyInnit tried this trick, the results were astounding, and Ludwig saw similarly positive results. However, the chat soon brought to his attention that the followers he saw pop up were likely not new viewers but simply current followers who simply had unfollowed and refollowed the account. As Ludwig observed, "Okay, maybe I shouldn't... do that then."