Twitch streamer MontanaBlack ‘forced’ to leave Germany over law for big streamers
Marcel ‘MontanaBlack88’ Eris, the most-followed German streamer on Twitch, says he has no other option other than to leave the country following new broadcasting laws and increased taxes.
MontanaBlack potentially leaving Germany
As reported by German websiteHeise, the “State Media Treaty contains new regulations for live streamers,” with anyone who averages more than 20,000 viewers requiring a broadcasting license. These rules are affecting other popular streamers including Gronkh, Drachenlord and PietSmiet. Unge, a streamer with over 1 million Twitch followers, has already left Germany, and is now living in Portugal.
On his Twitch stream, MontanaBlack also expressed anger about high taxes, saying the German government were “taking everything away.” He says that he feels like he has “no other option.” He explained that while he feels forced into leaving the country due to the regulations, it is not an easy decision, as he has also just renovated his home. He was also speaking to fellow German streamer, Trymacs, who faces a similar dilemma.
However, in a statement, authorities said that even those who don’t meet the requirements for a license “are also subject to conditions.” A spokeswoman said: “Unlicensed broadcasting is not second-class broadcasting. It is subject to the same material requirements — even without having to go through the more complex approval process, for example to mark advertising. ” So, overall, it’s a challenging time to be a streamer in Germany, and it may force some of the big names to move their setup and operations elsewhere.
