You could hardly accuse game developer and Twitch streamer Pirate Software of being a standard influencer—just look at the banana suit. In another move that breaks the mold, he’s announced a major step toward improving the quality of life for his moderators and employees.

Streamers with legions of employees under their belts aren’t exactly uncommon. Even the most basic professional streamer needs stream moderators to keep things running smoothly, with staffing needs only increasing as the operation grows. Editors, social media managers, brand managers, and more – and that’s assuming streaming is all they do. Pirate Software, as the name suggests, is also a game developer as part of a small team of three, and runs a ferret sanctuary that will be expanding and hiring more staff in the near future.

But Pirate Software recently posted on X (formerly Twitter) that its moderators and other staff will be hired as full-time employees. For those living in the US, this means they will receive benefits such as medical, dental, vision, and life insurance, as well as a company pension plan on top of their full-time pay. International contractors will also get a significant pay raise to ensure that neither party is necessarily better off than the other.

Considering most moderators don’t even get paid, this is a huge step, and one can only hope that even bigger streamers will follow suit. While his employees are undoubtedly thrilled, the reaction from fans has been mixed. Many Reddit commenters are concerned about the long-term sustainability of the business model, with the more cynical declaring that it will only last “until donations drop.” Some of the more extreme ones take issue with the fact that international workers are paid a living wage in the US, apparently seeing it as unfair. Still others use this as an excuse to bash the man personally, with one Redditor dismissing his game development streams as “talking out of his ass” while he “pats himself on the back.”