A Minecraft speedrunning tournament was interrupted at its climax by a rather invasive Twitch ad for condoms. This serves as yet another reason why Twitch’s random midroll ads are a terrible idea, but at least the 600 or so Minecraft fans watching the tournament were educated on the importance of reproductive protection.
For a family-friendly title, Minecraft can’t seem to stay away from controversial situations of a sexual nature. Less than a month ago, Minecraft Steve made his debut as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, but his first few hours on the battlefield were tarnished due to players using Steve to build hilariously inappropriate structures. That’s not even to mention one of Steve’s victory screens, where he is wielding a steak in a rather precarious manner. Thankfully, Nintendo had enough sense to remove the meat from Steve’s hand in the game’s most recent update.
However, Minecraft’s latest inappropriate oopsie is not the result of developer oversight, but instead caused by Twitch’s midroll ad system. MinecraftJavaSpeedrunning is currently holding a Minecraft speedrunning tournament where runners compete against one another to see who can beat the Ender Dragon the fastest. During a round between runners Kiryokoe and Korbanoes, an add for baby blockers blocked the screen of Kiryukoe’s stream. This was due to the stream broadcasting both competitors’ streams simultaneously via a display capture source in OBS. The viewers were forced to watch the ad as if it were part of the event, but the commentators’ reactions made it clear it was not. The below clip from the stream was shared on Reddit’s r/LivestreamFails by user Guydangerusus:
Speedrunning tournament afflicted with ADS during an intense moment from LivestreamFail
The ad interrupting the stream was pretty funny, but its timing is what made it hilarious. Both competitors were close to finishing their runs when the unexpected condom ad interrupted their performances. The slogan at the end of the ad asks, “What’s in your arsenal?” – which is also ironic, as the commentators were unaware if Kiryukoe had added any Ender Pearls to his own in-game arsenal during the ad. For those who were holding back a chuckle during the incident, the commentators erupting in laughter were enough to tickle anyone’s funny bone.
Minecraft speedrunning can be exciting to watch on its own, but it’s moments like these that make streaming so special. Sure, Twitch‘s ads can be invasive, and the platform itself makes a mistake almost every month that causes an uproar in the community. But thanks to a poorly timed condom ad, over 40k people have been exposed to the world of Minecraft speedrunning. This will definitely be a memorable moment for Kiryukoe to put in his speedrunning spank bank.