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About

Stream Sniping, sometimes referred to as Ghosting, are internet slang terms referring to the practice of viewing a video game player's livestream to gain an advantage or discover them in game in order to prank, harass or kill them.

Origin

The exact origin of the term "stream sniping" is unknown. On November 13th, 2011, a post titled "What Is Stream Sniping?" was submitted to the Battle.net Forums.^[5] In response, user Harharwa defined the term as the practice of viewing an opponent's livestream in order to gain an advantage in a multiplayer video game.

Spread

On January 1st, 2014, Urban Dictionary^[1] user TheGIR submitted an entry for "stream sniping," defining it as the practice of using a video game streamer's livestream in order "to find and harass them" (shown below).

stream sniping to follow a person who is streaming gameplay footage (usually on twitch or ustream) into the same games, using their stream to find and harass them (often for hilarious results.) "Do a can crush for Jay Owens in 30 seconds or you will be shot.... Oh my god, it's the same guy! He's stream sniping me"

On May 26th, 2016, YouTuber Vertiigo Gaming released a video titled "Raw Rust: Stream Sniping the Stream Snipers," in which he discussed stream snipers raiding his base in the game Rust (shown below).

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds

On July 26th, 2017, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds":https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/subcultures/playerunknowns-battlegrounds (PUBG) streamers Shroud accused streamer Lotoe of stream sniping him in the game, leading to Lotoe being banned from the game. Lotoe subsequently disputed the ban, leading others to question how PUBG can prove that stream sniping had occurred.

On July 28th, Sammie Kang, the lead community manager for PUBG, published a forum post noting that stream sniping was against the game's official rules of conduct, but noting that it was difficult to prove.^[2] That day, YouTuber TotalBiscuit tweeted thoughts about the stream sniping controversy, arguing that streamers should play with a delay to solve the problem (shown below).^[3]

NO FUN ALLOWED @Totalbiscuit Looks like "Stream sniping" is a debate again, an entirely solvable problem firmly in the hands of the streamers who choose not to run delay

On September 4th, YouTuber Cr1tikal uploaded a video titled "PUBG Stream Sniping," in which he showed clips of stream sniping in the game against video of streamer Forsen sniped by people mic spamming references to ZULUL Who Killed Captain Alex? in the game (shown below).

Tyler "Ninja" Blevins Controversy

On November 10th, 2018, Blevins was eliminated by player IcyFive during a Fortnite match and accused him of stream sniping after they performed a dance emote while being spectated after Blevins' teammate Dr. Lupo said "watch for the emote" (shown below). Blevins then reported the player, claiming the emote was evidence that the player was reacting to Dr. Lupo's comment.

Blevins: "I'm going out of my way to get this guy banned."

Following the incident, Blevins argued with viewers in his stream who disagree with him (shown below).

Shortly after, a clip of the incident reached the front page of the /r/FortNiteBR^[6] subreddit, which referred to Blevins' behavior as "toxic."

On November 11th, Blevins tweeted to IcyFive that he was sorry while simultaneously accusing him of "milking it" and "playing the victim" (shown below).

Ninja@Ninja Nov 11 Talk about timing when he emot3d when Ben asked. Odds were in my favor but I guess I was wrong! Good thing epic just investigates when I question a player and not ban them immediately 48 O209 IcyFive/51L @51LYouTube Nov 11 I don't understand why you raged, called me an idiot and said you were going to try and get me banned. I know that you can get me banned cause of how much power you have within epic. You are the face of fortnite Ninja @Ninja Replying to @51LYouTube @imnroadie and 4 others Epic will never ban people for no reason even If say anything.. you assuming they do is naive. Stop playing the victim, you aren't getting banned, I am sorry. Stop milking it

Search Interest

External References

^[1] Urban Dictionary – stream sniping

^[2] PlayBattleground – Regarding the current ban process

^[3] Twitter – @TotalBiscuit

^[4] Hackerbot.net Wiki – Ghosting and Stream Sniping

^[5] Battle.net – What Is Stream Sniping

^[6] Reddit – /r/ForteNiteBR

Recent Images 4 total

Bashiok Jan 19, 2012 3659 posts We've continued to see reports regarding someone live streaming their match, and their opponent watching the stream in order to gain an in-game advantage (also known as stream sniping). While this is obviously poor sportsmanship on the part of the one viewing the stream, we'd like to clarify that this is not a violation of any current policies. In fact, we cannot enforce any 'fair play' policies if a user chooses to provide their opponent an advantage. If someone in-game chooses to tell their opponent every move they're making, thereby informing them how to counter it, we cannot conclude that any violation has taken place. Even if this could be considereda violation, we simply cannot micro-manage every streamed match to ensure the opponent was not looking at it, or using it to their advantage. It goes far beyond the scope of what we're able to enforce. It's advisable for those streaming to take precautions, including delaying their streams by a significant amount of time, to avoid any potential advantage they may be providing their opponent. We are absolutely able to enforce, and will continue to do so, violations that include harassment of others in-game, use of hacks, abuse of our reporting tools, and attempts to disrupt the gameplay of others. If you believe that someone is in violation of the game rules it does not warrant behavior, language, or abuse that would earn you, yourself, a suspension from the game. If you'd like to report an offense, please report the player using clear and descriptive language only once; support will review that report and take action based on the validity of the complaint, not the persistence of the reporting The intent with our policies is to ensure a fair and fun experience in Blizzard games but the act of providing a window into your game for your opponent to see is not considered a violation, should they choose to use that to their advantage. We encourage anyone streaming to keep this in mind while doing so

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