Twitter erupts as Nickmercs announces mask-free event minutes after Twitch revealed COVID restrictions for upcoming San Diego TwitchCon

In a much-publicized situation, Nick "Nickmercs" announced his own event in San Diego within half an hour of Twitch tweeting about Covid restrictions at the upcoming TwitchCon. The streamer, who was accused of hosting a super spreader event for his MFAM Barbecue event last September, made it clear that his event, unlike TwitchCon, will have no mask or vaccine requirements.

The decision to enforce such restrictions has elicited a mixed response from the community. While many commended Twitch for erring on the side of caution, multiple fans and content creators didn't find the situation conducive.

According to Twitch, masks will be mandatory inside the convention center and participants must either provide proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID test.

---

Nickmercs makes contentious decision to host parallel event to TwitchCon without COVID restrictions

Amsterdam TwitchCon from last month was hosted without any restrictions, and Twitch had declared that there won't be any requirements for the event in San Diego until today, when it decided to change its stance. This is mostly due to public backlash from streamers and partners.

The Washington Post, in an article from August 3 titled "TwitchCon won’t require covid vaccines or masks. Creators are opting out," mentioned that many creators have publicly talked about not attending the event due to the no-mask policy.

It should be noted that the Washington Post is owned by Jeff Bezos, who also owns Twitch's parent company Amazon.

Streamers such as Trihex, AnneMunition, and Meg Turney have tweeted about not attending TwitchCon over the issue, as reported by The Gamer. In fact, a popular post from Twitch's Uservoice forum with over four thousand upvotes was probably another key factor in the decision. The post noted the rise of COVID cases after last month's TwitchCon in Amsterdam, stating:

"After the surge of COVID cases after TwitchCon EU it was incredibly surprising to see the lack of mask policy for the event and makes many of us incredibly concerned about TwitchCon NA."

The thread has been marked "completed" with a reply from Twitch which reads:

"We hear you and take these concerns seriously. In response to all of your feedback, we are updating our TwitchCon policies to require masks, as well as either proof of vaccination or a negative covid test."

In his post, Nickmercs noted that he had no intention of telling people what to do, stating:

"The MFAM and I will be doin’ our thing down in SD, it’ll be poppin’ all weekend. Already spent over $300K with more to come. No mask requirements, no vaccine requirements at our events. Do you, and we’ll see ya there"

---

Twitter reactions to Nickmercs' move

Nickmercs fans have shown their support for their streamer, flooding his post with positive reactions. However, many have raised the issue of spreading the virus, pointing out the rise in cases after the recent ComicCon, which was hosted at the same venue.

With Twitter divided, Nickmercs' event is being styled as an alternative to TwitchCon. The event is supposed to start from October 7, which provides plenty of time for the authorities to change their requirements.