At TikTok there is a feature that is controversial in the community: “Live Battles”. Streamers interact with each other and at the same time collect a lot of money from viewers. Twitch streamer MontanaBlack is surprised at how much he gets out of it. But says he doesn’t know anything about it.
What is it with TikTok and streaming?
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“Live battles” intended as a PvP event, used as a “money printing machine”.
What is this difficult trend? When streaming on TikTok, there is the possibility of a “live battle”; in China, the home country of TikTok, the feature is called “Player Knockout”:
The idea was probably originally that streamers play a game in split-screen at the same time and the fans then decide who is “better” and wins the battle through donations.
In the meantime, however, the feature is viewed critically, because ultimately TikToker uses it to earn a lot of money: they raise it as a popularity contest in which viewers knock out donations in the form of coins or gifts so that “their darling” wins.
TikTok benefits enormously from this feature – a significant portion of the revenue goes to them.
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Now how did MontanaBlack use that? Twitch streamer MontanaBlack was banned from TikTok in December after performing sexually suggestive gestures in derision for another video, but has now returned for a live stream in January 2023.
There he was quickly involved in a live battle with the streamer AbuGoku, who apparently knows TikTok much better than MontanaBlack.
The MontanaBlack, which is extremely popular in Germany, received endless gifts and money from his fans in this live battle. MontanaBlack apparently didn’t understand that at all, at least he showed no signs of being happy about the rain of money.
At one point, AbuGoku explains to him that MontanaBlack just got “universe,” which is the sickest thing you can get on TikTok. He has already earned €4,000 (via tiktok).
But MontanaBlack can’t believe it. Thinks his colleague is making fun of him. He doesn’t know anything about TikTok at all. When told he had earned about €4,000, MontanaBlack said:
“Oh, you talk shit, man.”
No, he’s serious, says AbuGoku,
MontanaBlack immediately pivots:
“Welcome to TikTok, dude. The new favorite platform. – From now on: Every day on TikTok! No.”
MontanaBlack looks surprised at the totals: last time he only made $160 or so. But he didn’t understand live battles and such, he was only in the stream and ate something.
Appearance is viewed critically: MontanaBlack normalize the €€€ trend
What is the problem? AbuGoku also explains to MontanaBlack that these LiveBattles, which he is currently using, are viewed critically on TikTok. He himself “don’t celebrate it that way either.” Because some people would then abuse this function, not interact with the other streamer at all, even mute it and only talk to their own viewers.
The feature is also highly controversial in the TikTok community. Some are already annoyed that MontanaBlack stumbled in here. This normalizes this pure “money-making” feature on TikTok and anyone who uses it now can always say: “Why? MontanaBlack uses that too.”
The “Battle” feature is sometimes dubbed the “Begging” feature by critics because in this mode, the streamers would beg for donations.
Critics like the YouTuber Rutkay also say: You shouldn’t take MontanaBlack’s naivety so easily. He has been on TikTok for ages and also deals with the platform in his Twitch streams. He knows exactly what’s going on there.
MontanaBlack has been repeatedly criticized over the past few months for following any trend that brings it revenue:
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