What was supposed to be a rare and heartfelt moment between VTubers and their fans at TwitchCon 2025 in San Diego, California, reportedly turned into a disappointing mess after the convention staff allegedly discarded all the gifts fans brought for their favorite creators. Now, Twitch is facing even more backlash on top of the security violations and other controversies that took place during TwitchCon.
Ironmouse, one of the most popular English-speaking VTubers in the world, confirmed on October 20 that the Twitch staff at the San Diego convention disposed of the items following her meet and greet. Fans had spent weeks preparing handmade gifts, letters, and artwork, only to find out they were never delivered.
“I deeply apologize to all the VTubers and the fans who had meet and greets at the VTuber booth this year,” Ironmouse wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “It breaks my heart to know staff threw out all the gifts. I should have known better than to trust them and taken care of everything ahead of time. I am so sorry everyone.”
Other VTubers, including Henya and Chibi, echoed the apology and cited a “miscommunication” between Twitch and event staff that led to the disposal and other concerns, such as meet and greet failures. Twitch reportedly deemed the gifts a “security risk,” even though some fans followed all guidelines, and this included placing gifts in clear plastic bags.
It appears many of the discarded items were small and harmless, such as stickers and plushies. The incident has reignited criticism of Twitch’s event management and its treatment of creators, especially after other controversies at this year’s convention, including safety concerns and a reported assault during a meet and greet.
Twitch fans are upset
Fans have flooded social media with frustration and sympathy, calling the incident a betrayal of trust between the community and the platform meant to celebrate it. People online also believed that if the staff didn’t want to handle all the gifts, then they shouldn’t have thrown them away in the garbage while also lying to the fans that they’d give the gifts to the Vtubers.
“I understand not wanting to handle all gifts of vtuber fans, but why lie and say you would and then don’t?” fumes a Reddit user. “Out of all the reports about Twitch’s mishandling of meet and greets, this makes me the angriest,” says an X user. Others have told Vtubers such as Ironmouse– who had to apologize in place of Twitch– that it’s not their fault, even though they’ve taken some of the responsibility.
Meanwhile, a fan who has had plenty of woes against convention staff before is accusing Twitch staff of stealing the gifts and lying to both the Vtubers and the fans, presumably to sell them later. “They didn’t throw it away. They stole it. Anyone who has worked at a convention knows this,” says an angry fan. At the time of writing, Twitch hasn’t responded to the outrage regarding the trashed Vtuber gifts.
