Twitch users will soon lose the ability to use the BibleThump emote to express sadness. According to Twitch, the rights to display the popular crying pink blob will expire on September 30th, after more than a decade of being one of the foundational Twitch emotes alongside Kappa, FrankerZ, and Pogchamp.
The BibleThump emote originates from “The Binding of Isaac,” a 2011 roguelike game created by Edmund McMillen and Florian Himsl. In the game, players control Isaac, who navigates procedurally generated dungeons, fighting demons and monsters to escape his fanatical, homicidal mother. The game, based on a biblical story of the same name, often shows Isaac curled up in a ball, sobbing with tears streaming down his fleshy pink face, which led to the creation of the emote. Since 2013, BibleThump has been a global Twitch emote frequently used to express sadness or frustration.
This decadelong run is now reportedly coming to an end, as Twitch indicates that its rights to the image will expire soon. However, McMillen suggested that this might not be the definitive conclusion, stating, “I’m not in control of the new Twitch policies so it’s really up to them.”