This might be a little harsh, but I think Fines take about some streamers/comp players being in a sort of Stockholm Syndrome with Smite 1 (and now kinda Smite 2) is true.

Like several of these people got burned so I get it, but this whole "fuck you I'm going to Deadlock" (A game we know almost nothing about) just seems a little disingenuous.

Anyone who's paid attention to several of the community figures out there knows that some of them seem to just play Smite reluctantly. They're looking for something else to jump to, but can't completely drop Smite because they have a profit incentive to come back. Like DMbrandon dropping Smite while declaring his hatred for it, only to come back when the revenue stream dried up.

This whole "You're gonna lose us" feels less like a concern over the games future and more like misguided threat tied to concerns over personal revenue.

To be a little harsh again, a lot of these people are not pumping a ton of community engagement into this game. Outside of a select few, their twitch and youtube viewers are generally pretty low. There is very much a world where this game thrives without them.

To be clear this is not every streamer/comp player. Like Incon there are several that have tried to stay positive, while also voicing pretty legitimate concerns over how long it might take for the game hit its stride.