Twitch partnered virtual Chaturbate star Projektmelody before her very first 3-hour stream on the platform. Described as the "world's 1st 3D hentai camgirl," Projektmelody sported more skin than clothes as she flirted with Twitch viewers. Taking into account her considerable reputation on the website Chaturbate, it's easy to guess why many users find her appealing.
The digital idol is scandalous to say the least. First of all, the title of Projektmelody's debut stream was "First twitch stream!!! Please be gentle, it's my first time;" The innuendo there is quite blatant. If the completely improbable boob-physics weren't enough to draw in the masses – she also made plenty of sexual statements throughout the stream. Melody also caught the attention of Sodapoppin who raided her around one hour into the stream.
Projektmelody has already gathered well over 50,000 followers after a single stream. While thinking about what she can "get away with," she mentioned, "I want to be respectful of the platform, while also feeling sexy."
This is a weird move for Twitch. The company is already constantly under fire for their oh-so-often inexplicable bans on female streamers (while letting others go for far worse) – yet instantly partners a highly-sexualized digital girl. I suppose they believe in her potential to draw viewers and make them money, but good-googly is the strategy shameless.
On the surface, the entire situation is simply amusing – but there are some deeper implications; The idolization of digital personalities is becoming more of a reality in society with each passing day. Take for instance, Hatsune Miku, a completely digital pop idol who performs live concerts to sold out venues around the world. Her song "Anamanaguchi" has gathered almost 10 million views on YouTube alone.
Relationships with AI is always a fascinating subject. Some theorize that famous YouTube idol "Poppy" is supposed to represent an AI pop icon. A Japanese musical project called "Mili" famously explored the subject with their song "world.execute(me);" – a love letter written from AI to human in the programming language JavaScript; The lyric video released by the group displays the lyrics completely in Java – demonstrating genius lyric-writing ability.
Overall, instantly partnering Projektmelody is an odd move from Twitch, one that certainly implies a behind-the-scenes deal. It's hard to imagine that the streamer will put out anything other than sexual content, so Twitch is walking on thin ice with this one.