Summary
Twitchhas announced that one of its most popular emotes, BibleThump, will be leaving the streaming platform due to its license expiring. The loss of this emote ends a longtime era, as viewers will no longer be able to use it after the end of September. The BibleThumpTwitchemote was first added to the platform in 2013, leaving behind a full 11-year legacy.
The BibleThump emote is a popular emote that shows a face with tears streaming down its face, typically used when something sad or something that moves the audience happens during a stream. BibleThump is based onThe Binding of Isaac’s player character Isaac, and is one of the most recognizable emotes on the platform. It was added two years after Twitch’s own launch, and has been one of the “default” emotes for anyone to use in a streamer’s chat. Many fans were saddened to hear that one of the platform’s most foundational emotes would be removed soon.
On the official Twitch Twitter account, it announced that the rights to the beloved BibleThump emote will be expiring, stating that it will require a replacement in the future.The rights to the BibleThump emote will expire on September 30, meaning that fans won’t have a lot of time left to use the emote before it leaves the platform. While content andemotes have been changed or removed from Twitch before, the part that has confused a lot of fans is why Twitch is letting the rights expire, instead of negotiating with the original IP holder ofThe Binding of Isaac, Edmund McMillen.
Binding of Isaac Creator Is Open To Renewing Rights to Twitch’s BibleThump Emote
The Binding of Isaaccreatorrecently commented on the emote leaving Twitch, giving greater clarity to the current situation as well. According to McMillen, he is fine with coming up with a good solution to keep or modify the emote. McMillen also commented in separate posts that he still has the rights to the emote and would be “100% open” to renewing the rights and/or working out a deal. That said, he notes that this isn’t up to him, as he isn’t in charge of Twitch’s new policies, and that it is up to Twitch instead.
Some gamers have speculated that the reason why Twitch hasn’t worked out a deal with McMillen is because it can’t afford to. The theory is based on recent reports of howTwitch is struggling to turn a profit for Amazon, with layoffs happening throughout the company in recent years. The only hole in the theory is that it likely wouldn’t cost a lot to license an emote based on a game that is 13-years old. Another theory that was put forth was how Twitch likely wanted an emote it could 100% own the rights to, which could be what McMillen was referring to in terms of “new Twitch policies.”
The Binding of Isaac
WHERE TO PLAY
When Isaac’s mother starts hearing the voice of God demanding a sacrifice be made to prove her faith, Isaac escapes into the basement facing droves of deranged enemies, lost brothers and sisters, his fears, and eventually his mother.The Binding of Isaac is a randomly generated action RPG shooter with heavy Rogue-like elements. Following Isaac on his journey players will find bizarre treasures that change Isaac’s form giving him super human abilities and enabling him to fight off droves of mysterious creatures, discover secrets and fight his way to safety.
