In Overwatch strange things are happening: The e-sports team Atlanta Reign has signed former professional and Twitch streamer Daniel “dafran” Francesca as a content creator, but the reaction to the announcement was so negative that just a few hours later, the separation was announced.
Who is dafran?
- The 28-year-old Daniel Francesca is a Danish Twitch streamer and former Overwatch professional.
- dafran played in the Overwatch League between 2017 and 2019, including for Atlanta Reign and also represented Denmark at the Overwatch World Cup. He was quite a star in the league. The Dane played heroes like Soldier 76, Tracer, and Torbjörn.
- dafran ended his professional career in March 2019 to become a full-time streamer. But then he chose a different life and briefly became a farmer: He suddenly showed up as an intern on an organic farm in Denmark. He is now streaming again on Twitch. When he is on air, 2,700 people watch him.
This was the signing: dafran’s former team, Atlanta Reign, announced at the start of Overwatch 2 that they had signed dafran as a “content creator”.
On Wednesday, October 5th, the team tweeted: dafran is the “newest content creator” and will now work under the brand “Atlanta Reign”.
It said: “The legend says: You hear a faint whisper in the Danish mountains. Some believe a man calls: “Let’s go, Dude.”
Extremely negative reaction on Twitter
What was the reaction? The reaction was catastrophic: Fans were outraged. As the site Dotesports reports, there was hardly any positive response to the announcement, only negative comments.
People even asked if Atlanta Reign intended to become the “villains” of the Overwatch League.
A tweet from 2021 becomes dafran’s downfall
What did dafran do? In 2021, there was a scandal involving former Overwatch super player Jay “sinatraa” Won (22), who later became a professional in Valorant: His ex-girlfriend accused him of manipulating her in the relationship and that there were sexual assaults. Sinatraa was subsequently sanctioned by Blizzard and his then Valorant team Sentinels.
Sinatraa said at the time that his girlfriend would remember a different relationship than he did. The relationship had been “unhealthy” for both. He apologized to her but stated that he had never attacked her in any way.
A later investigation resulted in sinatraa receiving a 6-month ban from Riot Games. Even after the ban was lifted, he did not play any games in Valorant.
dafran stood by sinatraa and called his ex-girlfriend, Cleo Hernandez, a “crazy e-girl” and a liar. Later, he apologized for these comments, but his role in the story apparently still haunts him today.
What happened next: In the midst of the shitstorm, dafran posted:
Atlanta Reign has reversed the signing. Please don’t hate them. My name is attached to a bad past, it makes sense. The world doesn’t believe I’ve improved. Maybe in a year or two. We continue to fight for the good cause.
Atlanta Reign confirmed a few hours later: They had parted ways with dafran. They apologized for not being “careful” with the partnership.
Since dafran likes to show Uno on Twitch, some fans joked that Atlanta Reign played the “Reverse” Uno card against him.
What are the reactions?
- Fans of dafran speak of a “cancel culture” – reddit struck again. They regret that it is not appreciated that dafran has become a better person.
- Others say: This is not “cancel culture”; people are simply being held accountable for their actions. If he wants to prove he’s a better person, it takes more than just saying, “Hey, I’m better now, dude”.
- A third one writes: “We did it, chat.” – This statement is also criticized: What did they achieve? They denied a chance to a person who tried to become a better person.
As you can see, these are heated discussions. The question of whether to use social media to hold people accountable for past misbehavior or to let things rest is an ongoing debate on social networks that is not limited to gaming but has also arrived there.
The internet does not forget. There are constantly cases where it seems a streamer is about to break through but is caught up by their past:
Twitch streamer becomes a pro in Valorant for a top team, 3 days later fired
