Instagram: Internationalwomensday_global / Ghost Town Games
To celebrate International Women’s Day, Twitch Rivals announced a Women’s Guild event. This announcement sparked controversy, however, as the event centered on a cooking game, Overcooked 2.
Looking to celebrate International Women’s Day, Twitch Rivals locked in an event for March 8, 2026. The idea was to bring women from Twitch’s Women’s Guild together with a big spotlight on some of the platform’s most prominent female personalities.
The March 3 announcement didn’t quite go according to plan, however. The Twitch Rivals event will showcase the selected female streamers playing a cooking game, Overcooked 2.
While it was later confirmed that members of the Women’s Guild voted and picked this particular game, the reveal nonetheless triggered a wave of controversy, with the announcement video piling up over 17 million views at the time of writing.
International Women’s Day Twitch Rivals events draws criticism
As confirmed by streamer MimiLena, and many others in the replies, Overcooked 2 “was chosen by women in the Women’s Guild. It was all voted on by the women, including myself.”
The group was given four games to vote on, according to streamer Kayzie. Those games were Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Hollow Knight, Ultimate Chicken Horse, and Overcooked 2. The latter won the vote by a landslide, according to various accounts.
“I would have liked to see different games offered but apparently they were very limited on the games they could pick,” Kayzie said.
I'm in the Women's Guild and the members voted on this game. When voting occurred (2 months ago), the overwhelming majority voted for Overcooked 2. It wasn't random.
It was horrible communication on Twitch's part not letting everyone know that it was chosen BY the women.. https://t.co/CYYF8FFyce
— Primroze (@PrimrozeTV) March 3, 2026
For some, voting for Overcooked 2 was in itself, taking a stand. “This lends itself more to the fact that as women, we should be able to play a cooking game competitively without the backlash,” MimiLena stressed.
That wasn’t quite the sentiment across social media, though. Thousands of replies and quote tweets on X (formerly Twitter) questioned the thought behind it. Even massively popular content creators like Rubius chimed in.
Ironmouse left shaken after “uncomfortable” interaction with RaKai & Ray at Streamer Awards
Bwipo faces outrage after saying women should avoid competitive gaming during periods
“Thousands and thousands of games available and they go and pick a cooking game for Women’s Day,” Rubius said.
“A cooking game for [women’s] day? The jokes write themselves here,” another replied. “Hey guys, did we think this through?” one user asked.
Twitch Rivals responds to International Women’s Day event drama
The overwhelming response drew out a statement from the Twitch Rivals team a few hours later. Event organizers assured the purpose of the event “is to uplift this community and highlight women in a game that emphasizes teamwork, adaptability, and shared leadership.
“Twitch Rivals [and] the Women’s Guild made a deliberate choice not to let stereotypes dictate what games women should or shouldn’t play.
“That said, we should have shared more context about the rationale behind the choice, and we should have done a better job spotlight the creators and collaboration that helped shape this show.”
Addressing the Women's Guild United Twitch Rivals show. pic.twitter.com/z3AhpqbyX7
— Twitch Rivals (@TwitchRivals) March 3, 2026
As it stands, the event is moving forward in its scheduled slot of 2PM PT on March, 8 to celebrate International Women’s Day on Twitch.
