Streamer tells custom PC builder to stuff their free PC after CEO's condescending comments

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The PC building streamer apologised after Intel stepped in, airing their disagreement with the comments made.

Image of the streamer kiapiaa reacting to the comments made by Katz.
(Image credit: kiapiaa on Twitch)

Artesian Builds is a PC seller which livestreams the building of high-end, modified gaming PCs. After recently announcing smalltime affiliate streamer Kiapiaa as the winner of a PC giveaway, Artesian Builds CEO Noah Katz chose not to reward Kiapiaa her winnings based on criteria related to her Twitch and social media following.

Intel, which sponsored the giveaway and has its logo plastered all over the stream, has since stepped in, and an official apology has been made by the Artesian Builds channel.

Here's how the whole thing played out: Kiapiaa entered and won an "ambassador" giveaway run by Artesian Builds. To be eligible for the prize, Kiapiaa included an Artesian link on her Twitch page. However, during a stream, Katz said that Kiapiaa didn't qualify as an "ambassador" for the company because she had fewer than 5,000 followers across social media platforms, and wasn't generating results.

"This person has three months of ambassadorship, and not a single click," he says as he 'purges' Kiapiaa from the program.

The decision to withhold the prize, then, was made on the basis that the affiliate streamer didn't have a large enough following to qualify.

Kiapiaa isn't the only one who's been turned down as a contest winner on these terms, as is clear from this clip of Katz trying to find a "person who is validated by our metrics." 

Intel took Kiapiaa's side in an official statement: "We strive towards welcoming streamers of all sizes to our programs and do not agree with recent negative comments directed toward small streamers. We are reaching out to relevant parties to address the situation."

Afterwards, Katz posted a written apology on the Artesian Builds Twitter account, along with a personal video apology.

Katz acknowledged that the comments "affected and hurt Kiapiaa," who he now accepts as the "rightful winner."

"I take full accountability and sincerely apologize," Katz said.

Kiapiaa has since been offered the prize, but turned it down. "I am not supporting a company that doesn’t support small streamers AKA THE backbone of their company," Kiapiaa said. "My email back to them was a simple two sentence reply. No ty. Take me off your ambassador list."

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Katie Wickens
Katie Wickens
Hardware Writer

Having been obsessed with game mechanics, computers and graphics for three decades, Katie took Game Art and Design up to Masters level at uni and has been writing about digital games, tabletop games and gaming technology for over five years since. She can be found facilitating board game design workshops and optimising everything in her path.