Why Asmongold Stepped Away From OTK

Zack helped build One True King. He was one of its founders, one of the faces people associated with it, and for nearly four years it was a big part of his public life. So when he stepped away, first from leadership and then from the organization entirely, a lot of people wanted to know why. He has answered that question directly more than once, so this is the straight version, in the order it actually happened.

The organization he helped build

One True King started in October 2020, founded by Zack alongside Mizkif, Esfand, Rich Campbell, and Tips Out. The idea was simple: a group of streamers who were already friends, building content and a business together instead of grinding alone. It grew into one of the best-known creator organizations in the space, running game shows, tournaments, and events, and it spun off ventures like Starforge Systems, the gaming PC company Zack co-founded in 2022.

For a while it worked. But the thing that made Zack's solo content what it is, the willingness to say whatever he actually thinks, turned out to be hard to fit inside a shared brand. That tension is the real story of why he left.

Chapter one: stepping back from leadership

In October 2024, Zack faced significant backlash over comments he made about Palestinians during a stream, which led to a temporary ban on his zackrawrr channel. He addressed it the next day in a YouTube video titled "My Plans Moving Forward," where he apologized and said he needed to take accountability and get himself in order.

Part of that was stepping down from his leadership roles at both OTK and Starforge Systems. His reasoning at the time was about not wanting his own controversies to become everyone else's problem.

I'm going to step away from my leadership position at OTK and Starforge and everything. They're fine with that, they respect that, and I want to do this. I want to do this not only for them but mainly for myself so I can be a better version of myself.

— Asmongold, "My Plans Moving Forward," October 2024

Starforge described it as a mutual decision. The important detail is that this was a step back from running things, not a full exit yet. That came a few months later.

Chapter two: leaving OTK completely

On February 21, 2025, a viewer asked Zack straight up whether he was still part of OTK. His answer was that he had fully left:

I'm not involved with OTK at all, pretty much. I haven't been, for a while. I'm chilling. If there's something going on with them or anything else, that's up to them. It's not my thing.

— Asmongold, February 21, 2025

He described the split as mutual, and added that even if it had not been, he would still agree with it. No dramatic falling out, no public fight. Just two directions that had stopped pointing the same way.

The real reason, in his own words

When Zack explained the split in full, he did not hide behind vague language. The core of it is that his content changed. He moved heavily into political and social commentary, and that kind of content is difficult to run under a shared brand that needs sponsors and partners comfortable with everything its members put out. As he told his audience:

My content, doing controversial political content, is really hard to synthesize with content that is not like that. Because of how extreme it is and how polarizing it is. So it was difficult to find sponsors, and it makes other things harder too.

— Asmongold, February 2025

That is a rare thing for anyone to say about their own work. He was not blaming OTK and he was not blaming the audience. He was pointing at the basic math: a brand built on a group cannot easily carry one member's most polarizing material without it landing on everyone. Leaving was the clean solution, for him and for them.

Where that leaves him

Free to do exactly what he wants. Zack still plays the biggest games the day they launch, still reacts, still runs the commentary his audience shows up for, but now none of it has to fit anyone else's brand. That freedom lines up with the other big move of this era, going independent across platforms and streaming to Twitch, Kick, and Rumble at once. Same idea, really: fewer things standing between him and saying what he wants to say, however he wants to say it.

He has spoken warmly and bluntly about OTK since, sometimes in the same breath. The friendships were real and so were the reasons for leaving. Both things can be true, and Zack has never been the type to pretend otherwise.

Frequently asked questions

Why did Asmongold leave OTK?

He left because his content shifted heavily toward polarizing political commentary, which he said was hard to run under a shared brand that needs sponsors and partners. He called the final split mutual. He had already stepped back from leadership in October 2024 following backlash over comments made on stream.

Did Asmongold get kicked out of OTK?

No. He described the departure as a mutual decision between himself and the other members, and said that even if it had not been mutual, he would still have agreed with it.

Is Asmongold still part of OTK or Starforge?

No. He stepped down from leadership at both in October 2024 and confirmed in February 2025 that he is no longer involved with OTK at all. He remains recognized as one of the original founders.

When did Asmongold leave OTK?

In two stages: he stepped back from leadership in October 2024, and confirmed his complete departure from the organization on February 21, 2025.