Chancellor Candidate Robert Habeck Visits HandOfBlood

As a cultural medium of the digital society, games and gamers are playing a significant role in the election campaign. This is likely why Vice Chancellor and “Games Minister” Robert Habeck made his Twitch debut during a visit to HandOfBlood.

Robert Habeck is no stranger to the games industry. As Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, he has opened gamescom in Cologne for the past two years. His ministry oversees games in the current government, including federal games funding and the Deutscher Computerspielpreis (DCP; German Computer Games Award). It’s only logical that the "Games Minister" would reach out to the gamer demographic during his campaign as the chancellor candidate for Bündnis 90/Die Grünen.

To connect with this audience, Habeck stepped out of his comfort zone and appeared on Twitch alongside content creator HandOfBlood. The discussion primarily focused on topics close to HandOfBlood’s interests and advocacy, such as animal welfare, esports, and gaming. Additionally, the conversation highlighted discourse culture. The nearly three-hour live stream, which can be viewed on YouTube and Twitch, drew significant attention.

“I think that it is more important than ever to engage with politics. [...] I think we all feel that there are these crises now that are frightening and for which we don't yet have the best answers,” said HandOfBlood, explaining his reasons for inviting Robert Habeck.

HandOfBlood, whose real name is Maximilian Knabe, is one of Germany’s most successful gaming streamers. According to StreamsCharts, he ranked among the top ten German streamers in 2024 by viewer hours. During the stream with Robert Habeck, up to 50,000 viewers tuned in simultaneously, according to Instinct3, the Berlin-based content creation agency co-founded by Knabe. This made it the most-watched German-language broadcast worldwide at the time.

Instinct3 is no ordinary content creation agency. For years, it has been attracting attention with unconventional campaigns. Instinct3 is behind the Esports team Eintracht Spandau, which won the German Prime League Championship and the EMEA Masters in 2024. The company has also launched its own publishing label.

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