Markus “Notch” Persson , refuses to donate to the annual charity event, Summer Games Done Quick, because he is protesting against Twitch’s new Bits feature. The creator of Minecraft posted this tweet in response to a follower’s question.
This comes as a surprise to viewers of SGDQ because Notch has donated an average of $30,000 to the event’s cause for the past two years. Even though he says he is protesting the new Bits beta feature introduced by Twitch, he has not provided a clear reason for why he hates the feature or how he plans to protest it outside of not donating to SGDQ.
For readers unaware, Bits are a new micro-transaction Twitch has implemented into their system as a new way for viewers to support streamers instead of donations. Users can use these Bits to “Cheer” for their favourite streamers with animated emotes. Currently there are 68 channels the feature is being beta-tested on, including partnered streamers such as strippin and dexteritybonus, but the GamesDoneQuick channel is not included in this list.
Some Twitter users have asked Notch if he would be interested in donating to the event’s cause instead, Doctors Without Borders, but he has not issued any reply, making people feel that he is holding his donation hostage over something petty.
Doctors Without Borders is an international medical humanitarian organization which provides aid to nearly 70 countries. They seek to help people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect or catastrophes such as armed conflict and epidemics.
At the time of writing this article, Summer Games Done Quick has raised over $600,000 for the charity and the highest donation is an amazing $20,000 from an anonymous donator. the event is currently into its 5th day of speedruns and special races, including a number of co-op and blindfolded runs. Hopefully the event can beat 2015’s total of $1,215,601.49 raised and crush a few records.
