Twitch is responsible for a lot of the hype these days: games like Fall Guys, Phasmophobia or Among Us have become real hits in recent months thanks to the pull of the streaming platform.
But not only games are becoming a phenomenon on Twitch: The streamer has been developing for a few weeks CodeMiko to the next big star – with the help of a fancy concept and a $ 30,000 high-tech suit.
Who is CodeMiko?
While other streamers need a computer, a headset and a camera, the Twitch streamer CodeMiko sets completely new standards with her setup – because that fully animated streamer appears in a virtual world before their audience
Miko, as the avatar is called, usually sits at her computer and speaks with her chat or conducts extremely funny interviews with other streamers. The following clip, in which Miko tries to play a prank on the supermarket streamer HAChubby, shows exactly what this looks like:
The great feature is the interactivity with which the streamer includes her chat in the transmission. Not only does every chat message appear in the streamer’s chest area, the chat can also actively intervene in the stream. If you donate around 800 bits (around 10 dollars) here, Miko can fart a green cloud. Anyone who donates 4000 bits (approx. 50 dollars) can even blow up Miko with an atom bomb.
Yes, technically the whole thing is pretty impressive. But how does it all work and who is actually behind it? Miko is played by a programmer whose real name is unknown and who only describes herself as “The Technician”. According to her own statements, she is a game designer who lost her job and put everything on one card with the CodeMiko project in mid-2020.
The tech invested $ 30,000 in one Motion capture suit and created the complete environment in Unreal Engine 4 as well as all functions that you get to see in your stream. She also created her avatar Miko entirely on her own, including all outfits and costumes. In a video, the developer shows how her actions in the real world are transferred to virtual reality:
Link to Twitter content
In any case, CodeMiko is a huge success on Twitch: After she only streamed sporadically for months and documented the development of her project, she started as a full-time streamer in November 2020. The average number of viewers increased from an average of 400 to over 9,000 within a very short time, and the number of their followers rose from 20,000 to over 500,000. Until a lock put a stop to their rapid growth.
Afraid of the Twitch Ban
Miko likes to push the limits of what is allowed on Twitch: She is known for discussing provocative topics and adding a high dose of sexual innuendo to her appearances.
She received her first ban in September 2020: Back then, viewers could send her pictures of her “D” for a dollar – actually harmless, since they were actually only pictures of the letter. Twitch banned Miko anyway because the admins didn’t get the joke and believed she was selling pornographic content to her viewers.
Link to YouTube content
Another ban followed in February 2021 for accidentally showing a viewer’s email address on her stream. This ban not only cost CodeMiko 4,000 subscribers, who each pay 5 dollars a month – since then it has been almost a persona non grata for the operators of the streaming website. Among other things, her invitation to “Hivemind”, a quiz show on Twitch, was withdrawn.
All of this gnaws at the streamer’s mental health: Im Interview with the psychiatrist Dr. Alok Kanojia, who runs the HealthyGamer_GG channel, spoke to Miko about even being plagued by nightmares:
“In the last dream I had, I wanted to order pizza. I had a pizzeria flyer and I showed the pizza flyer to my chat without knowing that the last name and number of the owner were on the pizza flyer. (…) And me got banned for it and was so mad. “
In our plus report, we explain why streaming is not as easy a job as many believe:
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The dark side of Twitch
Meanwhile, Miko is streaming again every day and inspires her viewers with wacky interviews, new technical achievements and her usual borderline humor. She has decided to pay even more attention to compliance with the strict Twitch rules in the future. Unless there is another lock to thwart your plans, we will certainly hear a lot more from CodeMiko in the future.
