"Don't want it to become weird" - xQc explains why he does not pay his Twitch channel moderators

On November 11, Twitch star Felix "xQc" teamed up with fellow Twitch sensation Kai Cenat to play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

During the livestream, Kai Cenat inquired whether xQc compensated his Twitch channel moderators. The French-Canadian personality confirmed that he did not, and provided an explanation by saying:

"Uhh... no. Do you? It's not about doing it for free. It's about, I don't want it to become weird."

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xQc and Kai Cenat discuss and explain why they don't pay their Twitch channel moderators

As the duo played Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Kai Cenat asked xQc if he paid his channel moderators for their duties. After the latter confirmed that he did not, the former exclaimed:

"No, like, some of my mods asked me to ask you that! Stupid, dumba**, d**kheads! Y'all n****s just volunteering to do s**t for free! The f**k?"

xQc responded, suggesting that it wasn't about doing things for free, but rather about not letting "it become weird." He claimed that the moderators watched and worked on his channel with passion, and that paying them could lead to a "dramatic" outcome:

"Listen, there are some creative reasons. Like, if it became like, weird and s**t, it could be dramatic. It could become dramatic. All right? I don't want it to become, because they watch with passion. And if you have a lot of mods, it's not like a lot of work for each. You know? So, it's like, I don't want it to become weird."

Timestamp: 02:09:39

The former Overwatch pro reaffirmed that the situation could become uncomfortable and weird if the moderators began to dislike the channel and were working only for money:

"Like, what if they don't like the channel anymore? They're like modding and don't like me anymore. Right? But if they're doing it for the money, then it becomes kind of weird. Because then, I'm trying to do something creative and they hate it. So, it's like, it goes against the whole fabric of it."

Kai Cenat later agreed with xQc's reasoning and responded:

"Yeah, you're right. You're right, bro! You're right. I feel you. That's true!

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Fans react to the streamers' discussion

The streamer's conversation was shared onto the r/LivestreamFail subreddit, with its reaction thread attracting more than 90 fan reactions. One Redditor suggested that content creators should hire a third party to track the work that their voluntary moderators do:

Redditor u/dispoable claimed that streamers would likely be banned without the efforts of their channel moderators:

A community member mentioned that YouTube Gaming streamer Ludwig Ahgren is compensating his moderators on a monthly basis:

Here are some more relevant fan reactions:

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Earlier this year, Twitch streamers Imane "Pokimane" and Jeremy "Disguised Toast" had a similar conversation. The OfflineTV co-founder revealed that she occasionally compensated some of her channel moderators for special work, but that the vast majority of them were volunteers.