Minecraft is one of the largest games in the entire world. From its initial release, the game has been the talk of the gaming world for years, and seems to never lose popularity. This can be thanks to YouTubers such as Stampylonghead, PopularMMOS, Skydoesminecraft, and others, as Minecraft has been able to keep its relevance through fun and creative Youtube videos. However, with the rise of a new group of Minecraft Twitch streamers, controversy is also rising. We’ll dive into exactly who these creators are and how they brought such controversy to a seemingly innocent game.

Dream is a 21-year-old, male, faceless Minecraft streamer, who started going viral after participating in Minecraft manhunts. The YouTuber also was the outlet for many other content creators to grow off of, including TommyInnit, TubboLIVE, GeorgeNotFound, Sapnap, and more because of his SMP (survival multiplayer minecraft server). Slowly but surely, Dream climbed his way up to 15 million subscribers on Twitch and YouTube. Though this sounds like a breeze, it isn’t. So what characteristics does it take for a content creator to become viral?

YouTube and Twitch are some of the most accessible apps to use if you wish to create content other than selfies of yourself on Instagram or dance videos on TikTok. They are easy to use for anyone, and are two of the most expansive and popular creator-websites on the internet.

But if anyone can use them, how can you get so successful off them? Well, take Dream and his friends for example. He and his friends started out by making Minecraft survival challenge videos, where they would tweak certain settings or use different kinds of mods to make the videos more interesting. If you want to go big on such an easy site, the first step is to separate yourself from the same content that can be found anywhere else. Another aspect of Dream that makes him different from other content creators is his mysteriousness. Instead of showing his face off in videos, possibly gaining off of physical looks, none of the fandom actually knows anything about Dream’s personal life besides simple things such as his first name, birthday, pets, etc, meaning viewers have yet to see the more physical aspects of the streamer, including his face.

After the rise in popularity for Dream due to his unique videos and playing style, controversy arose, mainly from his speedruns, a game style where the goal is to complete the game in the least amount of time possible. Of course, this is a difficult task, but Dream made it look effortless. People started to speculate that Dream was cheating or faking these speedruns, which caused the streamer to take a break on his content. While on his break, Dream’s fandom only became crazier. Fans started sexualizing Dream’s friends who are underage, such as TommyInnit, Tubbo and Ranboo. They also started hyperly-defending him because of the cheating allegations, causing a rift in the internet and Minecraft community. Now, he made a comeback with a recent speedrun video despite the backlash he received last time, and the question still remains: is Dream faking his speedruns or not? Of course, the real answer is unknown to us. Dream has defended himself, by stating that his chances with certain Minecraft seeds are possible. Although the controversy has settled down, it will never fully go away.

The internet is such a creative place, and you can really grow off of anything. However, “with great power comes great responsibility,” as said in Spider Man. Despite the amount of hate he gets, it’s amazing how much he has grown and how much of a standing point Dream has made in both the gaming community and the content community, as well as giving some hope to younger audiences to take advantage of the internet’s creative engines.