Trainwreckstv claims his devs gave him insight into how much complex view bots cost (Image via Trainwreckstv/Twitch) — Trainwreckstv (Image via Trainwreckstv/Twitch)

Trainwreckstv claims streamers are paying up to $20K per week to inflate their viewership with bots

Modified Nov 15, 2024 08:14 GMT

In a broadcast on November 14, 2024, Kick and Twitch streamer Tyler "Trainwreckstv" claimed that many content creators are paying up to $20K per week for view bots to inflate their streaming numbers. A view bot, or viewership bot, is an illicit software designed to add artificial viewers to a stream through IP manipulation.

Over the years, Trainwreckstv has made several such claims, including accusing an unnamed Twitch streamer of being the number one view botter in the industry.

This time, Trainwreckstv, who is officially part of Kick Streaming, claimed that developers he knew informed him that streamers were spending between $10,000 and $20,000 per week for complex view bots:

"The devs that I work with, they have calculated that some of these view bots that we encounter have to cost between $10-$20K a week. Like, we are talking about fully automated, IPs are completely spread, right?"

He also explained how a "basic" view bot works:

"The most basic view bot, every IP will show up from one country if you catch my drift, right? I am going to let you guess which country."

"Clout is a hell of a drug": Trainwreckstv on streamers spending thousands of dollars on view botting

Livestreaming has grown exponentially in recent years, with streamers like Kai Cenat and IShowSpeed achieving celebrity status.

As viewership numbers form a crucial metric of success, view botting has become a significant issue. This problem isn't exclusive to Twitch; several Kick streamers have also faced accusations of using bots to boost their numbers.

In his latest broadcast, Trainwreckstv claimed that view bots are becoming more complex. According to him, while basic bots ping one city's address for multiple fake viewers, sophisticated ones avoid overlap:

"There are complex view bots now that ping IPs, like one IP per f**king city around the f**king world. None of them overlap, you understand?"

The streamer added that there are ways to stop view botting but refused to explain them. Instead, he remarked that "clout is a drug" and insinuated that streamers pay large sums to appear more popular than they are:

"There is one way we can catch them now, but I am not going to say that way because I am sure view botting technology is going to learn and adapt from that. But, that's the f**king problem. I am telling you, clout is a hell of a drug."

In related news, controversial Kick streamer Fousey recently admitted to using view bots on his streams and accused fellow content creator N3on of influencing him.