In late 2020, Speedrun.com announced it had rejected a fifth-place run from popular Minecraft speedrunner and content creator Dream. The run, which was submitted in October, was rejected in late December after Speedrun.com led an investigation into the situation that lasted roughly two months.
Dream actively argued against the results of the investigation and Speedrun.com’s decision before seemingly accepting the ruling on Dec. 31 after the controversy continued to prove toxic for everyone involved. But today, nearly five months later, Dream posted his full perspective of the incident and what he thinks went wrong after digging into it further.
In the post, the content creator admitted to using a disallowed modification during the run but claimed he was unaware the mod was active at the time.
Related: Dream Minecraft speedrun controversy: A history of events
“As much as I was confident that I didn’t cheat, I had never explored the option that I possibly did,” Dream said. “Due to the way I reacted to the mods and perceived everything going on I was convinced that they were out to get me. I tunnel visioned and was paranoid and didn’t think straight. I had plenty of valid reasons to believe that they weren’t impartial, and had the mod team and I been completely friendly from the beginning I believe it never would have gotten to the point that it did.”
Dream said once he started digging into the logistics behind the situation, however, he realized he had been using some forms of disallowed modification during six of his streams.
These were mods used for making videos that were being developed by someone he hired alongside fellow content creator GeorgeNotFound. He “brushed off” any potential problems because the mods, at the time, weren’t affecting gameplay and he thought they were disabled or only impacted server-side gameplay.
When reviewing the details, Dream said he “ended up thinking that it’s basically the only explanation” and found out some of the improvements were pushed client side too so they could be used during single-player content. This meant certain improvements were being used during single-player gameplay, but he claimed he was unaware and there were no direct visual indicators. Dream went as far as saying that other changes, like Ender Eyes being less likely to break and Ender Pearls having a higher drop percentage were also live but not initially brought up in the controversy.
“When I realized this, I felt an extreme sense of guilt and I took down my response video not believing in what I said in the video at all anymore,” Dream said. “This was a couple months ago at this point I believe. When the drama first started I cared more about defending myself and being right, then about figuring out what was actually going on and I shot myself in the foot by doing it.”
After discovering this and taking down the video, Dream said he considered making a statement but decided against it because the “drama had basically already passed.” He claimed he didn’t want to force people back into the continuous negativity after it had just ended.
Some animosity continued between Dream and the moderators involved with the case, with the group declining to take his donations from the controversy video and later removing old speedruns on suspicion they might also be modded in some way. This is a common policy and Dream noted he is fine with it but was initially confused about why it happened so long after the initial ban.
And while Dream said the mod team was “extremely unprofessional” throughout the dealings, he wishes he had handled the entire situation differently from the start but is just coming forward now that there was a good opportunity and he is still impacted by the situation.
“I think the whole situation was extremely shitty overall for everyone involved and I wish that I could go back and do things differently because it was some of the worst weeks of my life and still impacts me every day,” Dream said. “I’m sorry to anyone that I let down or disappointed. I always strive to be the best person that I can be and that whole debacle wasn’t the best that I can be or anywhere near it. I hope this brings some closure to anyone who needed it, and I really want to move forward with positive vibes like I’ve been trying my best to promote as much as I can.”
Dream concluded his statement asking his fans to not send hate to the mod team or anyone involved in the situation and to avoid causing further drama. He does plan on clarifying the situation more in the future.
You can read a full breakdown of Dream’s thoughts and deep dive into the situation in his original post.
