Playing video games is meant to be fun. It’s meant to be an experience that one can truly enjoy. When it became possible to play with gamers across the world, the joy should have been expanded, and it was, but, it also brought a lot of toxicity. To prevent this in live tournaments and esports events, rules were put in place so that every player would be held accountable for his or her actions. The Overwatch League was the latest tournament to do this, and they have just followed through on those rules.
In a statement on their website, the Overwatch League spelled out four different players who had violated their code of conduct, and all have been punished for breaking these rules.
First up is Timo “Taimou” Kettunen, who is part of the Dallas Fuel. He used anti-gay slurs on his personal stream, and thus has been fined $1,000.
Tae-yeong “TaiRong” Kim, a member of the Houston Outlaws, was given a warning because of a meme he posted that was deemed incredibly offensive. However, he did try to make amends for what he did, which is why his punishment was less severe.
Next up is Ted “Silkthread” Wang, from the Los Angeles Valiant, who did some account sharing, which is against Blizzard’s rules, and he too has been fined $1,000.
Last, but certainly not least, is Félix “xQc” Lengyel, a member of the Dallas Fuel. He repeatedly used an emote in a “racially disparaging” manner both during livestreams and on social media. Now, if his name sounds familiar, it’s because he’s been punished before for his actions. In fact, he’s part of the reason that the Overwatch League instituted these rules. Because of this, he’s been fined $4,000 and will be suspended for four matches.
“It is unacceptable for members of the Overwatch League to use or distribute hateful, racist, or discriminatory speech or memes. It is important for all members to be aware of the impact their speech may have on others.” said Blizzard on their site.
It’s good to see that they’re living up to these rules. And hopefully these punishments will dissuade future incidents.
[…] not just to protect you, or your competitors, but to protect the integrity of the game. Yesterday, we reported that the Overwatch League had brought down some punishments against four players who had broken the Code of Conduct rules laid down by Blizzard. We also noted that one of them was […]