Known for his warm and authentic character, Sykkuno has emerged as one of the most popular streamers and YouTubers in the English-speaking realm. Thomas’ ascent to stardom can be attributed to his genuine and relatable personality, down-to-earth nature, and warm rapport with other streamers and fans. This, combined with impressive in-game mechanical skills across various titles like Valorant, League of Legends, and Among Us, has helped him amass a following of over 2.88 million subscribers.
Although Thomas has been typically known for his composed and almost stoic nature, there have been rare instances where the 31-year-old has been caught in controversies due to verbal mishaps during livestreams. Some of these moments feature him opining on a trending topic that might not resonate with a minor section of his viewers.
That being said, given Sy’s amicable behavior, some of these regular Just Chatting moments feature people citing his difference of opinion as a contentious take.
Sykkuno refusing donations and four other controversial livestreaming moments
1) Opinions on Subathons
Starting off this list is a self-described “spicy take”from last year that featured Sykkuno sharing his thoughts on ‘subathons.’ For the uninitiated, a subathon is a marathon stream where a streamer broadcasts continuously for an extended period, usually 24 hours or more.
After bracing his viewers with a potentially divisive statement, Thomas stated that subathons have now just become regular streams wherein a streamer would just leave on the pretext of sleeping only to wake up and do a regular stream the next day. He further added:
“I’m not going to say anything like specific names or anything..but.. I’ve seen so many subathons where they just do a regular stream and then they just sleep for 12 hours, 15 hours a day…and then.. they are just farming subs.”
Though Sy mentions there’s nothing wrong with this as viewers only sub to streamers they appreciate, he did confess to finding it “weird.”
2) Co-Streaming Worlds 2022
In November 2022, Riot Games made Sykkuno the sole English-speaking co-streamer for covering its League of Legends Worlds 2022 grand finals featuring Korean giants T1 and DRX. Although this was not done at Sy’s behest, many fans thought a dedicated LoL content creator should have been given exclusive rights instead of a variety streamer.
Though Thomas initially started out as an LoL content creator and streamer, he was surprised Riot’s decision would ruffle these many feathers:
“I didn’t know it was some kind of big deal. I guess for a lot of other people it’s a much bigger deal.”
Though Sy agreed that being the only English co-streamer was unfair, he clarified it was Riot’s decision to only have one slot and offer it to him. The streamer perceived the ire of fans as “misplaced anger.”
3) Opinions on Pride month
In June 2021, Sykkuno incensed a considerable section of his viewers after refusing to wish his chat Happy Pride Month. Thomas stated he was oblivious to the social nuances of the month and felt ‘scared’ of offending anybody. The streamer emphasized he just plays video games, detached from the world:
“Happy Pride Month, I’ll be honest I want to say that.. but the fact that I don’t really know what it is….makes me kind of scared to say that i’m assuming it’s a good thing….um….but look guys I’m not up to date on these sorts of things..”
He provided a reason for his apprehension:
“I’m like…I literally live in a hole I just play video games and talk to my friends on occasion…so like I’m assuming it’s a good thing…but I don’t want to say it….because I don’t know exactly. I just play video games”
This irked viewers, who were disappointed, considering Sykkuno is a tricenarian social media personality who ought to be more well-versed with social issues.
4) Refusing donations and subs
Fans of Sykkuno might have heard him occasionally talk about how viewers “should not donate or subscribe”to his then Twitch streams and that tuning in was enough to support him:
“You don’t have to sub or donate, just showing up is enough support.”
He has maintained this stance even after signing with YouTube. However, earlier in March 2023, Thomas revisited this topic during his livestream, which prompted some of his viewers to comment he was “poor baiting”again thanks to his running ‘Water Bill’ gag wherein he pretends to be poor.
The initial poor baiting incident occurred during Twitch’s infamous data leak, which revealed Sykkuno was earning upwards of $1.1 million a year.
5) Using the R-word
Wrapping up this list is a clip from Sykkuno’s initial days as a streamer, where he would stream without a camera. Despite being seen as calm and level-headed, he was considerably ‘edgy’ during his early streaming career. Aside from the inappropriate and offensive jokes, Sykkuno was known to use the occasional slur, which didn’t invite much scrutiny at the time.
However, in 2021, a YouTube clip surfaced that featured Thomas saying:
“What’s up guys? It’s Sykkuno here and I’m back for another episode of Minecraft. All right lets go get some more wood Yum Yum.”
Yum Yum was another player on the server whom Sy invited on an errand run to get some more wood. However, after the latter stood in a corner and jumped twice, the streamer was clipped saying:
“It looks like he’s r******d. I’m going to have to take him with me. Oh! oh! oh! You g*ddamn it, you stupid animal.”
After this went viral on social media, several viewers tried to cancel Sykkuno on Twitter. However, many came to his aid, stating he had grown as a person and streamer over the years.
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