After a “Twitch Rivals” tournament for Rust was canceled early, North American streamers including DisguisedToast, shroud, and xQc received over €92,000 in prize money. However, xQc had strong words for his Spanish competitors – and is now defending himself against accusations of racism.
What happened in the tournament? On April 14, one of the largest “Twitch Rivals” tournaments took place. In a Rust match that was supposed to be played over 3 days, two teams faced off:
- Team DisguisedToast, with North American streamers.
- Team Alexby11, with streamers from Latin America and Spain.
The two teams were supposed to gather resources and engage in an intense duel for the bases as a grand finale. However, the grand finale never occurred, as the tournament was canceled early.
You can read the full story about the cancellation of the tournament here:
Spanish streamers complained about unfair time zones and disrespectful behavior from the North Americans, prompting Félix “xQc” Lengyel to respond with strong words. The Canadian streamer called the opponents from the Spanish-speaking team “softies” and “Soy Boys,” who would prefer to “cry” rather than play.
Shortly after, the tournament was canceled and Team DisguisedToast was declared the winner. However, xQc’s behavior was not well received by all. His opponents accused him of racist behavior during the tournament.
Streamer says in heated discussion: “xQc, you are the most racist guy“
How did the accusations arise? To further extend their lead in the tournament and gather more loot, players from Team DisguisedToast spin the wheel of fortune in Rust. Meanwhile, a heated discussion arises between xQc and players from the opposing team in the text chat.
You can see the exchange in the video:
xQc writes: “I said you guys are bad at Rust, and that you should get a job. Are you still mad about that?”
Streamer ByRuby9 confirms that exactly that hit a nerve. xQc writes that it was supposed to be a joke and that they shouldn’t be too mad about it.
Meanwhile, another text message comes in from Dilanzito, a Spanish-speaking streamer from Chile: “xQc, you are the most racist guy.”
xQc responded to this with a sarcastic gif, showing how little he cared about these complaints:
Twitch Rivals itself also wants to learn from this debacle. On Twitter, they announced that they would organize future tournaments differently:
“We have heard the feedback from the community and will formulate the rules more clearly in the future to avoid confusion, reevaluate the format, and reconsider the scheduling of global events.”
Even Amouranth, one of the biggest streamers on Twitch, has reconsidered her future plans. Her time as an e-girl is over – even though she earned a lot with it:
The Canadian streamer pauses for a moment, writes a message in the chat, and receives support from his team. Then he also verbally retaliates:
The guy is losing his damn mind. He’s so screwed up that the screws are falling out of his pockets. What the hell?
xQc
The chat escalates further as xQc and colleagues prepare for a raid that ultimately will not happen.
After further altercations, threats from the Spaniards to withdraw from the tournament, and an overall very tense atmosphere, the tournament was ended prematurely.
“Get a job” hits Spanish people hard due to the economic crisis
Why is xQc’s statement perceived as “racist”? xQc said that the Spaniards should “get a job.” That was surely meant as trash talk. However, in recent years, Spain has faced high unemployment rates, especially among young people.
We’re talking about a “Generation C,” a Corona generation that is considered a lost generation (via faz): First came the economic crisis, then the pandemic. Young Spaniards are well educated but can only find temporary contracts:
- The Tagesschau reports on 30-year-old academics who still live with their parents because there are practically no job openings in their field.
- The Tagesschau states that at the beginning of the pandemic, 53% of Spaniards under 35 were laid off (via tagesschau)
- Youth unemployment was still over 30% in 2021.
xQc hit a nerve with his “joke” for many Spaniards who cannot simply “find another job”.
On reddit, people are defending xQc: He surely has no idea about the unemployment rate in Spain.
Spaniards call Americans ignorant and ruthless
What happens next? Even after the tournament, the hostilities continued. Alexby11, the captain of the Spanish team, listed several issues with the tournament, the incidents, and his opponents in a lengthy Twitter thread:
- So the Spaniards had to play on “THEIR” servers – which is something the Americans would never consider for themselves
- He lists many minor complaints – time and again, the Americans gained advantages, and the Spaniards had to catch up to not fall too far behind in points – but they found the rules favored the other side
- The Americans were deemed ruthless and did not understand what the situation was for Europeans when the Americans could just turn rules on and off at will. The Americans did not even know that there were other languages besides their own and that there were people playing on the other side of the ocean – many didn’t even know what an ocean is
- And yes, he writes in Spanish because that is his mother tongue: “If you don’t understand my tweets, just hit translate, you idiots” he ends nicely
xQc responded to this with a sarcastic gif, showing how little he cared about these complaints:
Twitch Rivals itself also wants to learn from this debacle. On Twitter, they announced that they would organize future tournaments differently:
“We have heard the feedback from the community and will formulate the rules more clearly in the future to avoid confusion, reevaluate the format, and reconsider the scheduling of global events.”
Even Amouranth, one of the biggest streamers on Twitch, has reconsidered her future plans. Her time as an e-girl is over – even though she earned a lot with it:
