Before dissecting the state of the Yogscast, I must make my position clear. I am a paying member of the main channel, a long-time viewer, and a massive fan. I write this not to tear down a community I love, but because I believe it is capable of being better. My perspective is that of a disabled viewer who wants to enjoy content on equal footing.
However, I also write this as a white individual. This distinction is vital. According to the 2022 census by UKIE (UK Interactive Entertainment), 66% of the UK games industry workforce identifies as White. In the broader UK population, that number is roughly 82%. Yet, when we look at the Yogscast main network, the representation of people of color appears to be significantly lower than both the national average and the industry standard. Therefore, my opinions on racial diversity within the network are outside observations and should never be used to talk over the lived experiences of racial minorities.
The Catalyst: When “Nice” Isn’t “Good” #
In the wake of my recent attempt to discuss accessibility on the r/Yogscast subreddit, I have spent time reflecting not just on what happened, but why.
When I posted, I set a clear intellectual boundary: I asked that we discuss the logistics of subtitles (budget, implementation) but that we not debate the necessity of them. Accessibility is a human right; it should not be up for debate. The community failed to respect this boundary. I was not met with budgetary concerns; I was met with a debate on my right to be there.
More damning was the response from the moderation team. When I pointed out that people were debating my human rights, a moderator replied:
People are allowed to share their opinions, even if others (or we) disagree, as long as they share them politely enough!
This interaction revealed the core rot. The Yogscast is not a monolith of intentional malice. It is a community recovering from trauma, trying so hard to be “safe” that it has prioritized “politeness” over “goodness.”
The Trauma of 2019 and “Toxic Positivity” #
To understand why a polite request for subtitles is treated like a hostile act, we cannot look at 2025 in a vacuum. We must look back at the summer of 2019.
That year, the network imploded. The CEO and a top content creator resigned following allegations of harassment and abuse of power. It was a devastating breach of trust. In response, the community circled the wagons. The moderation team and the fanbase adopted a policy of “aggressive positivity” to protect the remaining creators from the volatility that nearly destroyed the company.
In 2025, this defense mechanism has malfunctioned. It has become an auto-immune disorder. It intends to stop harassment and bad-faith attacks, but in reality, it suppresses any conversation that is not glowing praise. Valid critique is now conflated with “hate,” and disabled fans are told to be quiet so we don’t “ruin the vibes.”
The Politeness Trap #
In a community governed by toxic positivity, the worst sin you can commit is not bigotry—it is friction. This manifests through tone policing, where the validity of a marginalized person’s argument is dismissed based on the emotion with which it is delivered.
During the discussion on the subreddit, despite my request being framed as a matter of rights, the focus shifted rapidly from the content of my words to my “attitude.” One highly upvoted comment encapsulated this:
I did want to mention though that after the opening, the tone feels a bit intense… Finding it astounding and such does come across a little entitled.
Let us unpack that word: Entitled. When a disabled person expresses frustration that they cannot consume the content they pay for, they are called “entitled.” When they point out that a media company is failing basic industry standards, they are called “intense.”
This creates an impossible standard. We are expected to ask for our rights with a smile. We must be patient, soft-spoken, and infinitely grateful for any scrap of access we are given.
Contrast this with how the community treats those who defend the exclusion. In the same thread, a user argued against removing the slur “psychopath” by saying:
…there’s also a reality where not everything people say is going to be 100% nice to everyone… if you removed every insult that might be potentially offensive to someone, every video would just be polite nodding.
This comment effectively argues that the comfort of able-bodied people to use medicalized insults outweighs the safety of neurodivergent people. It was upvoted. Why? Because it was phrased calmly.
This is the Politeness Trap:
- A disabled viewer speaks firmly about exclusion? Downvoted for being “intense.”
- An able-bodied viewer argues that exclusion is natural? Upvoted for being “calm.”
The message is clear: You can advocate for the Devil as long as you use your inside voice. But if you shout for your rights, you are the problem.
The Economics of Exclusion #
The Yogscast is rightfully proud of the Jingle Jam. Since 2011, they have raised over £27 million for charity, including millions for Special Effect, a charity specifically dedicated to helping disabled gamers play video games.
This creates a jarring paradox. The Yogscast will raise millions to help disabled people play games but will not spend $40 to help disabled people watch them.
Let us look at the hard numbers. Professional captioning services like Rev charge roughly $1.50 to $2.00 per minute for human-verified captions. For a standard 20-minute main channel video, the cost is approximately $30 to $40. This is only an estimate but it 1 or 2 orders of magnitude smaller than most production costs and while time is a non-monetary cost, lots of production has a significant time cost associated. It is critical to ask why those costs are seen as intrinsic, but costs associated with access are not.
For a media company that publishes video games and runs a multi-million pound charity event, this line item is negligible. By relying on auto-generated captions, which struggle with the chaotic, overlapping audio that makes the Yogs so funny, they are making a financial decision that Deaf and Hard of Hearing fans are not worth a $40 investment.
Ableist Slurs & Comedy #
We also need to talk about language. The Yogscast has roots in the “edgy” gaming humor of the late 2000s, and while they have matured, certain habits persist.
The “Spaz” Defense The continued use of the word “spaz” in 2024 content is indefensible. When this is brought up, the defense is almost always: “It means something different in America!” This argument is flawed for three reasons:
- The Yogscast is a British company in Bristol. In the UK, this is a high-severity slur.
- Even in the US, artists like Lizzo and Beyoncé have removed the word from their catalogs. The global consensus has shifted.
- Using the “American meaning” as a shield implies that the comfort of the American audience outweighs the safety of the British disabled audience.
- The American meaning came fromm the British slur, just because you imported a slur and changed it’s meaning does not make the slur go away and it’s almost more offensive to that community to disconnect the slur.
The “Psychopath” Problem Similarly, the overuse of “psychopath” in games like Blood on the Clocktower reinforces dangerous stigmas. The Blood on the Clocktower community has already begun discussing alternative names for this role. We have the vocabulary to do better; “Traitor,” “Imposter,” “Killer,” “Fanatic” without relying on medicalized insults. Asking for this change is not “policing speech” or asking for “polite nodding” as some Yogscast community members have suggested. It is asking for precision and empathy.
The “Friend-Hire” Loop #
It is important to acknowledge where the Yogscast has succeeded. The network has become a genuine sanctuary for LGBTQ+ representation. The inclusion of creators like Zoey Proasheck, Fionn Riches, and Boba has been transformative.
However, this success highlights the stark failure in racial diversity. The network remains overwhelmingly white. This is largely due to the “Friend-Hire” Loop. In a post-2019 world, the Yogscast is terrified of hiring strangers, so they hire friends. But if your friend group is white, your hires will be white. By prioritizing “safety” over outreach, they have inadvertently segregated their own network.
This creates an unfair dynamic for the few people of color who are part of the network. The emotional labor of educating the community about race often falls squarely on their shoulders. It is not fair to ask them to be the sole ambassadors for inclusion. That burden belongs to leadership.
Conclusion and a Roadmap #
I do not believe the Yogscast, its moderators, or its fans are malicious. I believe they are tired. They are tired of drama, and they just want to watch their favorite creators play games. But inclusion is not “drama.”
o move from a culture of “polite exclusion” to one of “intentional inclusion,” the Yogscast needs a concrete strategy. This is not about changing the soul of the content—the chaos and the camaraderie are vital—but about ensuring that soul is accessible to everyone. The following roadmap prioritizes low-cost, high-impact changes first, moving toward necessary structural shifts.
Immediate Action (Next 30 Days) #
Pledge to Human-Verified Captions #
The network must commit to 100% human-verified captions for all Main Channel and Yogscast Games videos immediately. Auto-generated captions fail spectacularly with overlapping dialogue, accents, and comedic timing—the very staples of Yogscast humor. Without verified captions, the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community is effectively barred from understanding the punchline. Utilizing professional services or dedicated freelancers for a year of main channel content—approximately 150 videos—would cost roughly $6,000 to $8,000. For a company of this size, this is a negligible operating expense that yields a massive return in audience retention and SEO discoverability, while finally treating disabled fans as paying customers rather than afterthoughts.
Update the Editorial Style Guide #
Management must explicitly ban the use of ableist slurs—specifically “spaz” and “retard” in all titles, thumbnails, and dialogue. This requires updating the internal style guide used by editors and talent. If a slip-up occurs during a recording, it should be treated with the same severity as a racial slur: beeped or cut entirely. It is impossible to claim to be an inclusive community while casually using vocabulary classified as hate speech in the company’s home country. This change signals to disabled fans that their dignity is more important than a creator’s habit of speech or a reluctance to edit.
Establish a Dedicated Accessibility Feedback Loop #
Currently, if a user needs to report a seizure risk in a video or an unreadable font, they are forced to make a public Reddit post, which often opens them up to harassment or accusations of “drama.” The Yogscast should create a dedicated email address or a pinned, private Google Form for reporting accessibility failures. This moves the conversation away from public forums where “toxic positivity” reigns and into a professional inbox, providing editors with immediate, actionable feedback while protecting vulnerable fans from the “politeness police.”
Short Term (Next 6 Months) #
Reform Community Culture & Moderation #
The “Toxic Positivity” Clause The subreddit and Discord rules must be rewritten to explicitly protect good-faith critique regarding accessibility and inclusion. The current rules are too vague, allowing moderators to conflate necessary friction with malice. The new rules must clearly distinguish between “Harassment” and “Advocacy,” explicitly stating that tone-policing marginalized groups discussing their access needs is a violation of the community’s respect policies. By protecting the right to critique, the community signals that “keeping the peace” does not mean “silencing the problems.”
Rename the “Psychopath” Role #
The network should work with its storytellers to adopt a homebrew name for the “Psychopath” role in games like Blood on the Clocktower and TTT. Transitioning to terms like “The Fanatic,” “The Saboteur,” or “The Wildcard” costs nothing but carries immense weight. Continued use of “Psychopath” reinforces the harmful trope that mental illness is synonymous with violence and treachery. Changing a single word sends a priceless message of solidarity to neurodivergent fans and those with personality disorders.
Mandatory DEI Training for Community Moderators #
The volunteer moderation team is currently the frontline police of the community, yet they appear ill-equipped to handle the nuance of intersectional discussions. The Yogscast should provide professional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training for its head moderators. Since mods are currently enforcing the status quo, they need the tools to distinguish between a “toxic attack” and a “cry for help.” Proper training will help fix the root of the subreddit’s hostility toward critique, shifting the culture from defensive to receptive.
Long Term (Next 12 Months) #
Break the “Friend-Hire” Loop via a Creator Residency #
The demographic data suggests an insular hiring practice: you cannot diversify a network by only hiring people you already know, because friend groups tend to be homogenous. To break this, the Yogscast should establish a paid “Creator Residency” or scouting program specifically designed to find talent outside the current social circle. Instead of relying on a “friend of a friend,” the network should open quarterly guest slots for creators from underrepresented backgrounds to join TTT sessions or streams. This actively invites strangers to the table to normalize their presence before making hiring decisions, disrupting the cycle of segregation.
Hire a “Lived Experience” Consultant #
The network must stop relying on its few minority members, such as LGBTQ+ creators or occasional guests of color, to do the heavy lifting of education for free. Asking marginalized employees to fix the culture that marginalizes them is unpaid labor and leads to burnout. The Yogscast should retain an external consultant to audit internal culture, recruitment practices, and community safety guidelines. This ensures that difficult truths can be spoken to leadership by a professional who does not fear losing their social standing in the “friend group.”
A “State of Inclusion” Annual Report #
The Yogscast should commit to publishing a blog post or video segment annually, perhaps following the Jingle Jam, reviewing the network’s successes and failures regarding diversity and accessibility. This report should share the “wins,” such as reaching 100% captioning, but more importantly, it must admit the “losses,” such as failing to hit diversity targets for guests. Admitting failure is not weakness; it is the strongest evidence that the organization is actually trying to improve and is accountable to its audience.
If you’d like to support the push for accessibility, please politely request captions on videos, mention the steps availible to the Yogscast in this article, and support the Jingle Jam’s incredible work for Special Effect.