Tyler Steinkamp (born March 7, 1995), better known as tyler1, is an American
internet personality
An Internet celebrity (also known as a social media influencer, social media personality, internet personality, or simply influencer) is a celebrity who has acquired or developed their fame and notability through the Internet. The rise of social m ...
and
streamer
Streamer or streamers may refer to:
* a person who streams online on an internet platform like twitch or youtube
* Pennon, a small pointed flag
* Streamer, a kind of confetti consisting of strips of paper or other material
* Streamer, a common nam ...
on
Twitch
Twitch may refer to:
Biology
* Muscle contraction
** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation
** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction
** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle con ...
. He is one of the most popular ''
League of Legends
''League of Legends'' (''LoL''), commonly referred to as ''League'', is a 2009 multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a Mod (video games), custom map for War ...
'' online personalities with more than 5 million followers on Twitch. Steinkamp was banned from playing ''League of Legends'' from April 2016 to January 2018 for disruptive behavior towards other players, earning him the nickname of "The Most Toxic Player in North America".
His first ''League of Legends'' stream after reinstatement peaked at over 382,000 viewers on Twitch, a figure that was noted as the website's largest non-tournament concurrent viewership at the time. In October 2020, he was signed by the South Korean
esports
Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...
team
T1 as a content creator.
Career
Initial popularity and ban
Steinkamp ranked 14th on the North American ''League of Legends''
ladder
A ladder is a vertical or inclined set of rungs or steps used for climbing or descending. There are two types: rigid ladders that are self-supporting or that may be leaned against a vertical surface such as a wall, and rollable ladders, such a ...
in 2014,
but his stream had a modest following until 2016. Steinkamp originally became known in the ''League of Legends'' community for toxic behavior shown on his stream, which included personally attacking others and intentionally losing the game to the detriment of his teammates. This behavior eventually led to permanent bans on 22 unique accounts over several years.
Steinkamp's stream rapidly grew in popularity in April 2016, when he publicly announced that he had "reformed." His
Twitch
Twitch may refer to:
Biology
* Muscle contraction
** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation
** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction
** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle con ...
channel reportedly increased from around 5,700 followers before the announcement to over 92,000 followers by the end of the month. His improved behavior quickly lapsed but his following continued to grow, prompting several high profile and professional players to condemn his behavior. Those opposed to Steinkamp's behavior believed his popularity would encourage and normalize player toxicity, and criticized developer
Riot Games
Riot Games, Inc. is an American video game developer, publisher and esports tournament organizer based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in September 2006 by Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill to develop ''League of Legends'' and went on t ...
for not taking action to prevent this behavior.
On April 30, 2016, Riot Games employee "Riot Socrates" announced that due to "a well-documented history of account bans for verbal abuse" and player harassment, Steinkamp would no longer be allowed to own a League of Legends account, saying "we want you to know when the rare player comes along who's a genuine jerk, we've still got your back." Under a Riot Games practice known as ID Banning, accounts Steinkamp played publicly on stream would be immediately banned, even if rules had yet to be broken on the account. To date, this type of ban has only happened a few times in ''League of Legends'' history.
After becoming banned, Steinkamp was forced to branch out from playing ''League of Legends'', continuing to grow his fan base as his stream became more eccentric. His stream gained media attention when he acted out a 45-minute action parody of his life in front of a
green screen
Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two images or video streams together based on colour hues ( chroma range). The technique has been used in many fields to r ...
for
April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may ...
in 2018 called "A Day in the Life of Tyler1". He also continued to stream other games like
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds
''PUBG: Battlegrounds'' (previously known as ''PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds'') is a battle royale game developed by PUBG Studios and published by Krafton. The game, which was inspired by the Japanese film '' Battle Royale'' (2000), is based ...
.
In October 2017, Riot Games employee Aaron "Sanjuro" Rutledge made insulting remarks about Steinkamp in the official ''r/LeagueOfLegends''
Subreddit
Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images ...
's
Discord
Discord is a VoIP and instant messaging social platform. Users have the ability to communicate with voice calls, video calls, text messaging, media and files in private chats or as part of communities called "servers".The developer documenta ...
server, saying he looked like a "
homunculus
A homunculus ( , , ; "little person") is a representation of a small human being, originally depicted as small statues made out of clay. Popularized in sixteenth-century alchemy and nineteenth-century fiction, it has historically referred to the ...
" and that he would die "from a
coke overdose or
testicular cancer
Testicular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system. Symptoms may include a lump in the testicle, or swelling or pain in the scrotum. Treatment may result in infertility.
Risk factors include an u ...
from all the
steroids
A steroid is a biologically active organic compound with four rings arranged in a specific molecular configuration. Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes that alter membrane fluidity; and a ...
." The company responded saying "what was said is NOT okay, and we take it extremely seriously", apologizing to Steinkamp and to the ''League of Legends'' community. Steinkamp responded to the incident saying, "It really sucks that some people still hold a grudge... and refuse to acknowledge I've changed." A few days later, investigative
esports
Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...
journalist
Richard Lewis Richard, Rich, Richie, Rick, Ricky or Dick Lewis may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Richard Field Lewis Jr. (1907–1957), American radio network owner
* Dick "Rocko" Lewis (Richard Henry Lewis III, 1908–1966), American entertainer
* Rich ...
reported that Rutledge no longer worked at Riot Games.
Return
In late 2017, Steinkamp announced on stream that he received an email from Riot Games that his ban would be lifted at the end of the year if the accounts he played in the last month were "clean" of abusive behavior.
In January 2018, Steinkamp announced that he had been unbanned,
which was later confirmed with Riot Games by
Kotaku
''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier.
History
...
.
Tyler's first stream after he became unbanned in January 2018 peaked at over 382,000 viewers, breaking the record for the most concurrent viewers for an individual streamer on Twitch set by
Faker in 2017. This record was broken a month later by
Dr Disrespect
Herschel Beahm IV (born March 10, 1982), better known as Dr Disrespect or SPECT or Mr. 2 Time, is an American video game streamer. He had over 4 million followers on Twitch when he was active on the site, and became known for playing battle ro ...
's first stream after returning from a 2-month hiatus, although due to conflicting media reporting and technical issues with Twitch, sources disagree whether the record was actually broken.
During an angry rant about recent changes to the game, Steinkamp admitted he was addicted to ''League of Legends'', prompting other members of the community to share their addiction stories and share advice from Riot Games employees. In October 2020, South Korean esports team
T1 designated Steinkamp as a
content creator
Content creation is the contribution of information to any media and most especially to digital media for an end-user/audience in specific contexts. Content is "something that is to be expressed through some medium, as speech, writing or any of v ...
.
In late 2021, Steinkamp had achieved the highest rank in 4 out of the 5 roles in League of Legends. He announced a goal to hit the highest rank in all roles in 2022, which he accomplished as of February 19th, 2022. This achievement led to him being awarded 5 "Challenger" medals by Riot Games themselves and tweets acknowledging it on their official ''League of Legends'' twitter page.
Tyler1 Championship Series
In November 2017, Steinkamp hosted an online ''League of Legends'' tournament called the Tyler1 Championship Series (TCS). A parody of the
''League of Legends'' Championship Series (LCS), Steinkamp streamed in front of a
green screen
Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two images or video streams together based on colour hues ( chroma range). The technique has been used in many fields to r ...
to images of LCS stadiums and a commentators' desk. The tournament peaked at over 200,000 concurrent viewers on Twitch and was viewed by professional players and LCS casters. The winning team was awarded $10,000, funded from Steinkamp directly and without any sponsors.
In November 2018, the Tyler1 Championship Series made its return, this time with an increased prize pool of $50,000, funded again by Steinkamp directly.
Rift Herald particularly praised its improvement in quality compared to the previous tournament, stating "What started out as a meme... has morphed into something resembling a real online third-party tournament. There are impressive graphics, sleek and seamless replays and a parade of community talent that's been brought in to help host and cast the event."
Personal life
Steinkamp studied
computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...
at
Central Methodist University
Central Methodist University (formerly known as Central Methodist College and also known as Central College or CMU) is a private university in Fayette, Missouri. CMU is accredited to offer masters, bachelors, and associate degrees. The school is ...
before
dropping out
Dropping out refers to leaving high school, college, university or another group for practical reasons, necessities, inability, apathy, or disillusionment with the system from which the individual in question leaves.
Canada
In Canada, most ind ...
to focus on his streaming career.
While at Central Methodist University, he played as a
running back
A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...
for the university's football team.
Awards and nominations
Footnotes
See also
*
List of most-followed Twitch channels
This list contains the top fifty channels with the most followers on the live streaming social platform Twitch. , the most-followed channel belongs to Ninja with over 18.4 million followers. The female streamer with the most followers on h ...
References
External links
*
* {{youtube, u=UCwV_0HmQkRrTcrReaMxPeDw
Living people
American esports players
League of Legends AD Carry players
Twitch (service) streamers
Central Methodist University alumni
1995 births
Internet memes
Entertainers from Missouri
People from Ralls County, Missouri
African-American media personalities
Streamer Award winners