Shift is a livestreamer and the illustrious speedrun world record holder for 2003’s SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom. This original platformer based on the hit Nickelodeon TV show is fondly remembered by many, as evidenced here by Shift’s devotion to the game and the audience he’s largely built around it. What a shame it is then that he and his audience can’t celebrate this shared passion with a new Twitch SpongeBob emote, as the Amazon-owned game streaming website has disallowed its application.
The emote that Twitch deems to violate their Terms of Service, specifically in relation to sexual content, depicts SpongeBob bending over and in the process ripping his square pants to reveal his underwear beneath. Quite how the cartoon depiction of a sponge that isn’t actually revealing any flesh (if you can even call it that) falls under the umbrella of displaying “imagery of sexual content or nudity” we aren’t sure.
HAHAHHAHA TWITCH YOURE JOKING RIGHT???? pic.twitter.com/nyQDmxHphD
— SHiFT
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It seems Shift has mostly taken being knocked back by Twitch in his stride, though he did make his opinions on the matter clear when he tweeted: “Honestly Twitch get f***ing real.” Citing hypocrisy, he then called out the company on all the “horny boobie emotes” that are approved for the platform and sarcastically asserted that “that’s how you know we’ve got top tier moderation and guidelines on this website.”
He might actually have a point, though. In a recent example, professional livestreamer Amouranth had her channel reinstated despite a history of producing what many deem to be sexual content. The ban even seemed to have originated from an incident where she accidentally exposed herself. If you can come back from that, surely SpongeBob’s underpants ae fair game?
Presumably, Twitch will be allowing gamers to stream the upcoming SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated, which is a remaster being brought to market by THQ Nordic. The exact release date is currently unknown, but it’ll be available on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
