It’s become clear that some Overwatch pro players are in need of an attitude adjustment. Multiple members of various Overwatch League teams have been punished for their use of bigoted language. One of the more infamous of these foul-mouthed players is Felix “xQc” Lengyel. He’s finally been suspended by Dallas Fuel after multiple instances of his usage of racist or homophobic slurs.
Dallas Fuel and Lengyel have announced that they’ve “mutually agreed to part ways” in the wake of his conduct. It was in the “best interest” of both sides to release Lengyel before his contract expired, team owner Mike Rufail said. Lengyel’s latest suspension won’t let him play or practice with any team during Stage 2 of the League’s inaugural season, and letting him go now lets the Fuel sign others during the transfer window while giving Lengyel a chance to sign with someone new.
Although Lengyel may have some issues signing with another team as any new deal would have to be reviewed and approved by Overwatch League officials. This means that any future actions the Overwatch professional takes will be placed under tougher scrutiny to try and prevent future controversy.
What issues like this do bring to light is that this kind of behavior is far too common among the gaming community as a whole. Toxicity and bigotry are usually all but ignored until they cause an issue like the one being discussed here. These players are so used to being able to slide right past any notion of common decency because they’ve often not been scrutinized in this manner before. And that’s what makes it so difficult to prevent these kinds of behavior. The ingrained idea that toxicity is part of gaming is not one easily removed. Let’s just hope that increased visibility and awareness of this kind of behavior can lessen it’s impact going forward.
