Twitch saw some major changes with its emotes (via Getty Images)

Twitch made a major change with its global emotes, where they removed many popular ones, leading to their disappearance from chat. On January 7, the Amazon-owned platform removed 36 Global Emotes, some of which had become familiar fixtures across countless streams. The reactions from fans were mixed, as some were sad to see their favorites go, while others were happy with the removal of unwanted emotes. The emote purge was first highlighted by livestreaming reporter Zack Bussey, who shared the news on X. Among the removed emotes were popular names like PotFriend, PoroSad, HungryPaimon, KEKHeim, and WhySoSerious. Two emotes associated with Kai Cenat’s channel were also taken down, with no official explanation at the time.

Which emotes were removed? List of 36 removed emotes

The full list of removed emotes includes1. AndalusianCrush2. BangbooBounce3. CaitlynS4. ChewyYAY5. DarthJarJar6. DarkKnight7. FC26GOOOAL8. FallCry 9. FallHalp10. FallWinning11. FamilyMan12. FlawlessVictory13. ForSigmar14. Getcamped15. HarleyWInk16. HungryPaimon17. IronmouseLuv18. KEKHeim19. KingWorldCup20. Lechonk21. LionOfYara22. Mafiathon323. MechaRobot24. McDZombieHamburglar25. MegaphoneZ26. NiceTry27. NRWylder28. PikaRamen29. PogBones30. PopGhost31. PoroSad32. PotFriend33, RyuChamp34. StreamerU35. WhySoSerious36. ZLANsup

Fans were divided about the purge and its effect on the platform

Streamer Zack Bussey speculated that a possible end of the licensing deal of third-party emotes may be the reason for the massive purge. He stated. “…Pure Speculation, but many of these look like third-party characters that maybe they had some sort of licensing deal with… so that is one possible reason for this purge.”Fan reactions were all over the place, ranging from outrage to relief. X user @hannahvtuber wrote, “BRING BACK POT FRIEND THIS INSTANT.” Streamer Kair added, “awww I love PoroSad.” Others were less upset with user @pocks_pocket writing, “I’m so glad that KEKHeim emote is gone, kept getting in the way of KEKW in tab-to-complete.” Despite the removals, other popular emotes continue to be widely used on the platform. According to StreamElements, SMOrc continues to lead the platform by a wide margin, having been used more than 9 billion times. It tops a list that includes x0pashL, forsen5G, suwieOwO, homyLol, cuviTest, TriHard, LUL, smolFine, and chipsaKEK.Also read: Did Twitch get hacked? Streamers report payout changes as platform confirms investigation