TheOverwatchWorld Cup Qualifiers were overshadowed by homophobia, transphobia, and overall bigotry this weekend. In what was meant to be a return to competitive play after athree-year world cup hiatus, fans and pro players alike were instead caught in bitter arguments, as some in the community very vocally took issue with contestants usingPride Month profile picturesduring games. It all came to a head when two other pro players made abusive remarks about a trans caster. This was enough to finally get a response fromBlizzard, as it has just been announced that the streamer has been “removed from all official OW esports programs moving forward.” The players in the livestream are also said to have been hit with a year-long suspension, barred from competing until June 2024.Related:Overwatch 2’s ‘Pay To Keep’ Messaging Shows Just How Absurd Live Service Has BecomeLegendary and Alivelol, players for Triple Esports and Onyx Ravens respectively, won’t be able to play in any Overwatch tournaments for a year, according toLiquipedia. They both played in Overwatch Contenders, one tier below Overwatch League, and appeared on a co-stream while the World Cup Qualifiers were on over the weekend.
In this stream - which is also blocked from future Overwatch Esports events - Legendary and Alivelol called a trans person an “animal”, “pig”, and “monkey”, and suggested that trans people should not be involved with competitive Overwatch.
This came after a weekend full of Overwatch fans battling homophobes, as some viewers called out anyone who was using an LGBTQ+ pride flag profile picture in-game. Blizzard has not weighed into this argument but was quick to act on the statements made by Legendary and Alivelol.
“Over the weekend, an Overwatch World Cup co-streamer used derogatory language toward one of our casters in violation of our rules,” reads a statement from Blizzard. “We have removed this co-streamer from all official OW esports programs moving forward. We apologize to any community members who were hurt by the language used.”
Given the wording of this statement, TheGamer asked Blizzard to clarify specifically if it had personally banned the two players from competing. However, Blizzard told us it “won’t be commenting further at this time.” Despite this, Liquipedia has been updated to say that the pair have been suspended for a year due to, “Derogatory language toward blizzard [sic] official.”
Legendary seems to have confirmed this,mockingly respondingto Blizzard’s statement and liking tweets which indicate he’s leaving Overwatch behind.
Triple Esports and Onyx Ravens have not responded to our request for comment.
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