Artesian Builds is a PC vendor that streams live builds of high-end gaming PC mods. After Artesian Builds CEO Noah Katz recently announced Kiapiaa as the winner of a PC giveaway, she chose not to reward Kiapiaa for her winnings based on criteria related to her Twitch and social media following.
Intel, which sponsored the giveaway and plastered its logo all over the stream, has since stepped in, and the Artesian Builds channel has issued an official apology.
Here’s how it played out: Kiapiaa entered and won an “Ambassador” giveaway from Artesian Builds. To qualify for the award, Kiapiaa included an artesian link on her Twitch page. However, Katz said so during a stream Kiapiaa failed to qualify as an “ambassador” for the company because she had less than 5,000 followers across all social media platforms and was not getting any results.
The reason… LIKE WHAT? Unfortunately, not everyone has money for a PC. IT IS EXPENSIVE! So condescending. @ArtesianBuilds do it better. I earned this PC. It makes me feel like I’m not a good streamer. (cont.) pic.twitter.com/pc8EDycP6BMarch 1, 2022
“This person has three months of ambassadorship and not a single click,” he says as he “deletes” Kiapiaa from the program.
The decision to withhold the award was then made on the basis that the affiliate streamer did not have a large enough following to qualify.
Kiapiaa is not the only one who was rejected as the winner of the competition under these conditions, as can be seen in this clip (opens in new tab) von Katz trying to find a “person who is corroborated by our metrics”.
Intel has sided with Kiapiaa an official statement (opens in new tab): “We aim to welcome streamers of all sizes to our programming and disagree with recent negative comments about small streamers. We are reaching out to relevant parties to address the situation.”
After that, Katz a written apology (opens in new tab) on the Artesian Builds Twitter account, along with a personal video apology.
Thank you everyone for their continuous feedback and support. pic.twitter.com/t95SLuWgeyMarch 2, 2022
Katz acknowledged that the comments “affected and hurt Kiapia,” whom he now recognizes as the “rightful winner.”
“I take full responsibility and I sincerely apologize,” Katz said.
Since then, Kiapiaa offered the price (opens in new tab), but refused. “I don’t support any business that doesn’t support small streamers AKA THE backbone of their business,” Kiapiaa said. “My email to her was a simple two-sentence reply. no Take me off your ambassador list.”