Who Is Loltyler1 And Why Is He Called "Reformed"?

Amidst the backdrop of a highly digitized world, nowadays, virtually anyone can become a celebrity, simply by harnessing the massive power of the internet. Whether it’s the ‘internet personality’ turned musician, Doja Cat, who kickstarted her career by dropping the perfect meme song, or Pewdiepie, who held the title of being the world’s most subscribed Youtuber for a staggering five years. (In Internet lingo, that’s equivalent to a decade!)

Perhaps no internet platform is more responsible for producing a staggering amount of influencers and internet celebrities than the mind-bogglingly popular streaming service- Twitch. Whether you’ve got a knack for watching people eat shockingly large amounts of food or violently shout at their screens while playing your favorite video games, Twitch has got you covered. Out of the big names to come out of the famous streaming site, perhaps none is more controversial than Tyler Steinkamp, who’s better known by his screen name, loltyler1.

Born on the 25th of March, 1995 in Missouri, Tyler “Tyler 1” Steinkamp, is an American Twitch streamer, and YouTube personality, who’s best known for streaming League of Legends, and racking up thousands of views in the process. Throughout his streaming career on Twitch, however, Tyler, who goes by the screen name “loltyler1,” has gotten tied up in a fair share of controversies, particularly in regards to the “toxic” behavior he displayed while playing and streaming League of Legends.

By carrying out this toxic set of behaviors, about which we’ll go into detail later in this article, Tyler was eventually banned from playing League of Legends in 2016. Surprisingly enough, it was during these ban years, that Tyler was forced to explore other forms of content, which led to him divulging in other genres of videos, mainly parodies of popular culture. One such video stream that garnered him a staggering amount of fame, and well, attention- however good or bad it maybe- was when he parodied mainstream legend Bob Ross, or when he streams himself cooking food on his cooking stream “CHEF TYLER1.”

From his Instagram (@loltyler1_alpha)

From the beginnings of his streaming career on Twitch in 2014 to his notorious reputation within the League of Legends community, Tyler Steinkamp has managed to do the impossible- he started from nothing, built a steady gaming career for himself, had that career go downhill, but has somehow still managed to return to his former glory, as he is currently the third most followed Twitch esports player, and managed to rake in a whopping 167,000,000 viewers and 3,041,000 followers at the time of writing this article. If there’s anything we can say about Tyler’s fanbase and the rollercoaster of a career that he’s had in the past, these numbers are only expected to increase in the future.

If you’re new to the glittery and gossiping world of internet fame, chances are you might be shaking your head in disapproval right now. If you’ve seen some of the memes that get made on Tyler, you might be confused as to why someone would enjoy this level of ridicule. Well, for starters, making fun of people, and getting made fun of is just a natural consequence of being an internet celebrity. Whether you like or not, there’s a high chance that the content you post might just turn into the next big meme. Luckily for us, however, Tyler seems to enjoy the memes that get made on him and continue to provide us with his hilarious outbreaks and reactions.

Having said that, however, life wasn’t always like this for Tyler. Before his streaming career took off and brought him to the heights of internet popularity, he was just your regular, if not slightly over-the-top, tough guy. He pursued a degree in Computer Science at Central Methodist University but had to withdraw to focus all his time and attention on his thriving streaming career. Before he made it big on Twitch, Tyler was known for his past as a professional football player, which has also been the crux of many of the jokes and memes that get made on him.

It wasn’t until 2016 that Tyler’s Twitch stream just completely took off. Although he ranked 14th on the North American League of Legends ladder way back in 2014, he had a modest but dedicated following on the popular streaming service. Even then, however, Tyler was mainly characterized by the toxic behavior he displayed in his League of Legends gameplay, which consisted of personally attacking other teammates and going as far as to tell them to commit suicide.

From his Instagram (@loltyler1_alpha)

In a striking turn of events, Tyler’s Twitch account started to gain a steady influx of new followers in April 2016, when he returned to the platform as a formerly disgraced anti-hero, who had publicly announced that he “reformed” for the better. Reportedly, the following on his Twitch channel increased from a measly 5,700 followers to a ginormous 92,000 followers once his announcement was made. Despite the public announcement, however, his improved behavior didn’t last for long, and he quickly turned back to his old ways, which prompted several high-profile streamers within the esports community to condemn him. Ultimately, this led to permanent bans being placed on 22 unique accounts owned by him over the course of several years.

As we’ve already mentioned above, Tyler doesn’t really have the best track record when it comes to maintaining discipline, or even integrity for that matter, while playing League of Legends. Right from the very start of his streaming career, loltyler1 got off on the wrong foot with the League of Legends community, where he garnered notoriety and even a substantial amount of hate, for the sleazy tactics that he opted for during his gameplay.

In a typical loltyler1 stream, viewers could never truly predict the verbal abuse that was going to take place. As a general rule of thumb, League of Legends gaming streams can be quite intense, to say the least, but Tyler just completely disregarded all rules and integrity while playing. Taking toxic gameplay to new and unprecedented heights, Tyler was frequently abusive towards his fellow players, cursing at them, offering them bad advice, and even suggesting that they commit suicide. On top of that, Tyler would intentionally lose games if he didn’t get his favorite character, which was usually Drazen.

It was this kind of behavior, along with the fact that he exposed himself to his girlfriend, Macaiyla’s live stream, which led to him being labeled as the “Most Toxic Player of North America,” and garnered him a nasty reputation on the popular streaming site.

A rather interesting thing to note about Tyler’s League of Legends streaming career is the fact that he was not banned once, but multiple times. While it may appear as though Riot Games had a grudge against, the reality of the situation is just that Tyler’s behavior was unacceptable on all accounts. If serious action wasn’t taken against him, there’s a high chance that his toxicity would have set out a bad example for other players, and encouraged them to act in a similar manner.

In the long run, this would have disrupted the entire League of Legends gameplay streaming on Twitch and would have given rise to a hostile community of gamers who have zero respect for their teammates, or the game itself. Luckily for us, Riot games took the right action in time, which paved the way for Tyler’s reform as a team player, and hopefully as a respectful streamer.

After a year of facing permanent bans, Tyler announced in late 2017, that he had received an email from Riot Games, stating that he’d be allowed back on the game by the end of the year if the accounts that he had played with last year were free from any abusive behavior. Finally, in January 2018, the bans were lifted and Tyler was free to play and stream the addictive League of Legends again.

Tyler’s first stream after getting unbanned broke streaming viewership records, as it had the highest number of concurrent viewers for an individual streamer. It seemed as though viewers all around the globe, as well as devoted fans of the League of Legends game, we're pumped for him to be back as a reformed individual, who could make the most out of the game, instead of engaging in acts of verbal abuse.

Since then, loltyler1 is amongst the most popular League of Legends online personalities and is often linked with the game’s success. If it wasn’t for the bans, there’s a high likelihood that Tyler would not be relevant right now, which is why we’re glad he fixed his ways.

By the end of the article, we can only hope that loltyler1’s story and career encourage other streamers, particularly those who’ve got a knack for esports to be respectful of the gaming community, and hold their integrity while playing their favorite e-games.