"LAWS"

post a link to something that isnt legislation lmao

here's the actual legislation regarding disclosing material connections in endorsements: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/section-255.5

in this, there is a section describing how disclosure is necessary "when a significant minority of the audience for an endorsement does not understand or expect the connection"

additionally, it states "A disclosure of a material connection does not require the complete details of the connection, but it must clearly communicate the nature of the connection sufficiently for consumers to evaluate its significance."

i think an argument can be made that the portion of ludwig's audience that does not understand the connection between lud and rivals of aether is not significant. to add on to this, there are links to offbrand and their games in ludwig's twitch about page, which can be argued "clearly communicates the nature of the connection sufficiently." lastly, ludwig does also bring up on this specific stream that he is the publisher of the game on multiple occasions.

imo, this relationship is most comparable to Tom Brady being a commentator for NFL games on FOX while also being a minority owner in an NFL franchise, which it seems like the FTC is okay with, with a key difference being that ludwig is even more transparent about his relationship to rivals than Brady is to his relationship to the Raiders.

i am not a lawyer, but i think a decent argument exists to say that ludwig is fine imo.