Asmongold makes bold Destiny claim: ‘xQc and HasanAbi’ wouldn’t exist without his early Twitch influence

Twitch and Kick streamer Zack “Asmongold” has credited Steven “Destiny” Bonnell II with helping shape the livestreaming space, saying creators such as himself, Felix “xQc” Lengyel and Hasan “HasanAbi” Piker may not have built their careers in the same way without him. Asmongold made the comments while reacting to a recent video involving HasanAbi and xQc. He said he disagrees with Destiny on many political issues but still respects his early work outside gaming. The comments drew attention after a three-minute clip from Asmongold’s stream was shared on Reddit’s r/LivestreamFail on August 31, 2026.Asmongold says Destiny helped create a path for creators like himAsmongold was reacting to a video in which HasanAbi discussed xQc’s feelings toward another person when the conversation turned to Destiny.He explained why he believes both he and xQc have a lot of respect for the political commentator.Asmongold said:“Loves who? Who are we talking about? Destiny? The reason why xQc has a lot of respect for Destiny, and I also have a lot of respect for Destiny, is because if it wasn't for Destiny, all three of us wouldn't exist.”He then added that there was a strong possibility that he, HasanAbi and xQc would not have become the creators they are today without Destiny’s early influence.Asmongold particularly pointed to HasanAbi, saying:“And the one that you could be the most certain about is Hasan. But, you know, we're not going to get into that.”Asmongold’s comments were not about agreeing with Destiny’s political views. In fact, he made it clear that he often disagrees with him. Instead, he was talking about Destiny’s role in the development of livestreaming content beyond video games.He described Destiny as an “innovator” and “pioneer” who began experimenting with this type of content at a time when gaming still dominated livestreaming.Asmongold said:“Destiny was an innovator in the livestreaming space. He pioneered making content that was outside of the spectrum of gaming, and I think that even if you disagree with him politically, which I do in many cases, you can still respect the fact that he was someone who planted that flag extremely early on.”Asmongold recalls Destiny’s early political content on TwitchAsmongold went into more detail about what he meant by Destiny “planting the flag.” He said Destiny was openly discussing political ideas on Twitch years before that type of content became a major part of livestreaming.According to Asmongold, Destiny was sharing liberal views on Twitch during the mid-2010s and continued those discussions through appearances on Trainwrecks’ podcast.He said:“And not only did he plant the flag, but he defended it, too! Like, he would go on, and he would bring up, you know, liberal viewpoints on Twitch in 2016, and 17, and 18 on Trainwrecks' podcast.”Asmongold also said he personally witnessed some of those conversations.“How did I know? Because I was there talking about it with him.”He then connected Destiny’s absence from Twitch to his permanent ban from the platform.Asmongold said:“And the only reason why he's not doing it now is because he's banned! He literally got removed from the platform, and that's the only reason why it stopped happening.”Asmongold’s comments reflect his personal view of Destiny’s influence on livestreaming rather than a claim that the three creators directly owe their careers to him.Destiny has not publicly responded to Asmongold’s latest comments as of this writing.Catch the latest World News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.