It’s been a crazy return for TwitchCon. This year's convention was already off to a controversial start thanks to relaxed COVID-19 protocols, but things got going early when a Twitch streamer broke her back in two places because the foam pit wasn't deep enough. Now, an extensive Twitter thread is collating everything else that went wrong at TwitchCon.
The thread comes courtesy of Elise (@astraharaa) who reposted over 70 posts from TwitchCon attendees. Besides the foam pit claiming more than one victim, TwitchCon 2022 appears to have been marred by misinformed or untrained security staff, massive unmanaged crowds, a total lack of accessibility for disabled patrons, rooms too small to handle their panels, and of course, at least one known COVID outbreak.
It seems like a lack of accessibility was an ongoing theme at Twitchcon, with reports from congoers about accessibility lines being shut down to help deal with large crowds. One even said that attendees were being told by staff that they could simply apply for an accessibility badge to get easy access to panels and events. When this inevitably led to those lines becoming overcrowded, they were simply shut down, leaving disabled attendees in the lurch.
Crowd management was reportedly nonexistent. There were few lines, and going to any event often met dealing with a crush of bodies trying to stuff themselves into a room too small to handle the total population. Again, disabled congoers were especially at risk, with one deciding to leave the event rather than continue to risk their life with strangers.
Just as in 2019, one person said they were roofied at the TwitchCon party, and security didn't prevent fans from getting into the hotel where content creators were staying, resulting in some unfortunate reports of stalking and harassment.
TwitchCon wrapped up last night and so far hasn't addressed any of these reports. TwitchCon 2023 will take place in Paris, France.
