Popular Overwatch livestreamer and ex-Dallas Fuel skilled participant Félix ‘xQc’ Lengyel was handed a 15-day suspension from Overwatch yesterday, after being repeatedly reported for abusive chat. This is barely the most recent in a protracted line of disciplinary actions taken towards the participant, who’s scheduled to look for crew Canada within the Overwatch World Cup subsequent month.
xQc is famously loud and abrasive – and his type is extraordinarily in style. Loading up his broadcast from yesterday offers an excellent indication of his tone – skipping randomly by, the primary three issues I heard have been the r-slur; him telling an enemy (albeit one who couldn’t hear him) to “get the fuck out of my face, bitch,” and him calling the sport “fucking cancer.” He additionally had tens of 1000’s of viewers, with the chat always churning.
Since being dropped from the Dallas Fuel after repeated conduct infractions, xQc has nominally been on a street of self-improvement. In his streams, he tends to maintain his outbursts between himself and his viewers, moderately than saying them within the in-game voice chat, although Blizzard has said that they are going to now take into consideration conduct from different sources the place it could nonetheless impinge on others’ experiences.
After this suspension, he took to Twitter, claiming that “it is never my intention to harass or use in-game chat in an abusive manner,” and known as his conduct “banter.” “100% of the time I type something to someone I know they are playing along and won’t be hurt,” he stated, earlier than following up with the traditional if-you-were-offended non-apology: “If I ever typed something and you we’re [sic] genuinely hurt, I am sorry.” (Notably, this is able to be an pointless sentence if he actually was positive that his targets have been taking part in alongside 100% of the time.)
What precisely this suspension was for is unclear, as Blizzard’s reporting system is notoriously opaque. On his stream, xQc confirmed the e-mail he obtained, which reads partly: “your fellow players reported you for abusive language multiple times…after analysis of the evidence, we have suspended your Overwatch account.” This means that these stories could have been obtained previous to the day he was banned, to permit time for Blizzard’s evaluate.
“Fifteen days?” xQc requested. “That also probably means I’m not in the World Cup.”
Team Canada’s first sport is on September seventh, 13 days after his suspension lifts. According to the Cup’s official rules, “players [must] have an active Battle.net account, which Battle.net account, as well as all other Battle.net accounts associated with that player, must be in good standing.” It’s unclear whether or not this suspension will due to this fact disqualify him, and if not, whether or not Blizzard would possibly nonetheless intervene.
When xQc was beforehand reprimanded for spamming a Twitch emote in what Blizzard known as “a racially disparaging manner” whereas black caster Malik Forté was on display, Blizzard claimed that “it is unacceptable for members of the Overwatch League to use or distribute hateful, racist, or discriminatory speech or memes.” But actions communicate louder than phrases, and although it led to the tip of his Fuel profession, he was nonetheless signed on for the World Cup. For their half, Team Canada’s head coach, Justin “Jayne” Conroy reacted to this newest suspension by saying that “there will not be any internal changes or roster adjustments at this time.”
The downside is that, if Blizzard proceed to let him play, they ship the message that abusive chat is not any massive deal. As with when he made homophobic feedback in direction of the one brazenly LGBTQ+ Overwatch League participant, Austin “Muma” Wilmot, as with when he spammed these emotes, as with when he was suspended final 12 months for throwing a aggressive sport, after a few weeks, xQc is allowed to brush himself off and proceed to take part in official tournaments. This undermines Blizzard’s acknowledged dedication to inclusivity, as I wrote about on Eurogamer recently. It’s not that xQc ought to be banned for all times; he ought to have the ability to develop and alter and return when he’s prepared. But that’s not whereas he’s brazenly admitting to calling folks “fucking [r-slur]s” on his stream; not whereas he doesn’t see how that’s a problem.
With aggressive Overwatch always combating dangerous behaviour from gamers and casters, it’s clear that the disciplinary actions taken aren’t notably efficient as deterrents. And as this behaviour continues on the high, so too does it make some common gamers suppose it’s acceptable, each in-game and elsewhere. Whether or not that is the straw that breaks the camel’s again for xQc’s place within the Overwatch World Cup will say quite a bit about Blizzard’s dedication to enhancing that.
