Stuck on the final boss of "Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree" for close to 60 hours, Cenat enlisted the help of a therapist to process his emotions.
Christopher Polk/Penske Media via Getty Images
Frustrated with his performance against a video game boss, Twitch streamer and YouTuber Kai Cenat went viral on Tuesday evening for bringing a therapist to his livestream to help process his emotions.
Cenat, 22, was well into his 60th hour of fighting the final boss of the "Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree" when Aubri Williams appeared in his streaming room.
Williams, a full-time model who also provides counseling sessions, told Cenat that someone booked him an appointment with her, but did not say who.
What ensued was a bizarre blend of two worlds. For half an hour, Cenat haphazardly talked through the mechanics of "Elden Ring" as Williams taught him to breathe, think positively, and envision the outcomes of him achieving his gaming goal.
Cenat had been streaming his playthrough of the video game for a total of 92 hours, with six to seven hours of sleep interspersed between gaming sessions.
Cenat, with 11.7 million followers on Twitch, is one of the biggest creators on the streaming platform, just behind the likes of Tyler "Ninja" Blevins, who holds the top spot with 19.1 million followers.
The Amazon-owned platform has had to rely heavily on big streamers as it struggles to stay afloat and laid off about 500 staff, or more than 30% of its workforce, in January. At the time, Twitch CEO Dan Clancy said the company was no longer profitable.
Bandai Namco's "Elden Ring," the game that frustrated Cenat, is notorious among avid gamers for its almost torturous difficulty but has sold over 25 million copies since its release in February 2022.
For context, Hogwarts Legacy, another AAA game, sold 15 million copies and made over $1 billion in revenue, gaming news company IGN reported.
"I've been on the last boss for the past 60 hours of my life that I can't get back," Cenat lamented. "And I'm trying everything, I went to get a new weapon, I went to go upgrade new stuff like my dexterity, my arcane, I dropped my faith, I got more strength. I've done so much."
"Let's close our eyes for a sec," Williams said.
"Oh, I got scared, I see Radahn again," Cenat said, referring to the final boss blocking his victory.
Calming down and steeling his mind under Williams' guidance, Cenat played the boss fight again for her to observe.
"When I win, I win," Cenat said. Williams applauded his newfound positivity.
His character spun and slashed for several minutes but eventually fell to Radahn's two gigantic swords. A death counter on Cenat's stream updated to 992.
He slapped his knee in anger. "I got greedy," he said, raising his head and roaring the same words.
"You might need to pull away and give yourself a good five minutes of just resetting and putting your energy only on seeing that good run. Only a continuous good run," Williams told him later.
After a few breathing exercises — and a brief segment where Cenat seemed to get suspicious that his therapist was laughing at his gaming performance — Williams wished Cenat luck and exited his stream.
Williams, who has 72,500 followers on Instagram, said on social media that she had opted not to run a full clinical session with Cenat when he was "trying to reach his goal" on a livestream.
"Did this young man need some mental health support during a tough time while he's legit LIVE STREAMING? Yes," wrote Williams, who said she has a Master's Degree in Marriage, Couples, and Family Counselling from Stetson University.
Cenat would defeat Radahn about six hours and 40 deaths later, or 67 hours after his first encounter with the video game boss.
It was the end of an ordeal for the streamer, who broke down days earlier in front of his fans because he kept losing.
Williams and representatives for Cenat did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent by Business Insider outside regular business hours.
