In the Overwatch League, disciplinary measures are raining down. There are even repeat offenders who have been punished multiple times for violations. The hothead xQc is caught, and it will be costly.
Blizzard is trying to establish the hero shooter as an eSport with the Overwatch League, elevating it to the level of traditional sports. This also includes the professionals taking on a role model function and presenting and behaving accordingly. Anyone who expresses themselves derogatorily or even racially has no place in the Overwatch League and must expect penalties that can be severe.
The hardest punishment, however, likely falls on Félix Lengyel, better known as xQc from the Dallas Fuel team. He received a hefty fine of $4000 and is also suspended for 4 matches starting March 12.
Repeated racism leads to hefty fine
As justification, the Overwatch League states that “xQc used emotes in a racially derogatory manner multiple times during the League’s stream and on social media. Additionally, he used derogatory terms towards the League’s casters and fellow players in both social media and his private stream.”
Although the League does not specify the exact incidents, it is assumed to involve spamming the “TriHard 7” emote when the host Malik Forte was visible on stream. Forte is Black, and the emote depicts a Black person.
xQc denies any racist intentions, pointing out that it is a normal emote on Twitch and refers to Malik Forte as “a good friend.” He had previously made similar positive remarks, but this was interpreted as irony.
He suspects that the accusations are part of a campaign against him because he and other players have used the emote for ages without any penalties.
However, there have already been several incidents involving xQc that week, as he declared on Twitter that “casting the League has given him cancer” – so the punishment could also be related to that.
The Overwatch League itself seems to take it with humor and mocks xQc during the stream. Because xQc supposedly stands for “x-tremely questionable conduct.” The scene starts at minute 26:15.
Whether this is a much better way of handling the situation is, of course, debatable.
What do you think of the Overwatch League’s approach in these cases? Is it good to take a firm stand so that eSports is eventually seen as equal?
Have you already seen how Blizzard responded to fans’ demands for “Mercy with 2 pistols”?
