The Fortnite player FaZe Jarvis was banned from Fortnite by Epic a month ago. The ban is permanent. How does the YouTube star and Fortnite pro deal with it?
This is the situation: The then 17-year-old FaZe Jarvis was actually a made teenager until a month ago:
- Jarvis was a professional Fortnite player for the FaZe Clan, the largest eSports organization in Fortnite
- the Brit had about 2 million subscribers on YouTube, whom he regularly entertained
With this, the 17-year-old had actually found his place in life for the time being. He had turned his hobby into a profession and made a decent rise afterwards. It was only going up for him.
However, he suddenly received a lifetime ban in Fortnite in November. Developer Epic banned him because he used an aimbot on a secondary account and filmed himself doing it.
The ban caught Jarvis unprepared. He insisted that he made the aimbot video without malicious intent. He just wanted to entertain his fans – that’s why he only used it in “normal solo play” and not in ranked.
The ban was relatively unusual and made headlines for about a week: After all, a lifetime Fortnite ban meant for Jarvis something like the end of his career at 17.
There was then back and forth: He begged for mercy. His mother supported him and argued that he should not be punished so harshly. Even streamer star Ninja spoke out for him.
But Epic remained firm and showed no sign of yielding. They have a “0 tolerance” policy, the verdict stands.
Jarvis then stated that he would first move back to England to his family. He wants to leave the FaZe villa in Los Angeles and reflect. However, he planned to continue making videos.
Jarvis plays again in sketches on YouTube
What is he doing now? FaZe Jarvis apparently took a few days off, but it was only short. He is now active on YouTube again and probably back in the FaZe house in Los Angeles. He is now trying to find a new role.
Meanwhile, FaZe Jarvis is 18 years old.
In doing so, Jarvis consciously plays with the image of “the guy who can no longer play Fortnite”:
- So, his first videos on YouTube after the video “I quit YouTube to get a real job” features him briefly acting as a seller in a merchandise store for FaZe, obviously a PR stunt. He is already back in Los Angeles.
- The second video was “FaZe Jarvis goes back to school” – a sort of sketch comedy
- The latest video revolves around Jarvis fantasizing about playing Fortnite again, but he can’t because he would be banned immediately if he even touched the controller. He pretends to endure hellish agony in the video because he is not allowed to touch the controller, even though he misses Fortnite so much.
Apparently, Jarvis is still fully integrated into the microcosm of “FaZe”, appearing in videos from other YouTubers in the clan and playing in YouTube clips in well-known formats where he stages specific roles.
On Twitch, Jarvis was hardly active anymore; his last stream there was a stream of “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.”
On social media, he emphasizes how much he misses Fortnite and yearns to get back into the “competitive” scene.
Jarvis plays with his image as “the banned pro”
What’s behind it: Jarvis seems to really miss his time as a Fortnite pro, but apparently, life goes on as usual. He tries to make the best out of his situation.
He is now “the guy who got banned from Fortnite”, everyone knows that, and he plays with this image on YouTube. How long this will last remains to be seen. It would actually make sense for him to get a “new game”, maybe indeed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.
For the moment, however, Jarvis seems to be successful and continues his life as before the Fortnite ban – only without playing Fortnite in public.
