Blizzard’s Overwatch World Cup tournament has officially banned a Saudi Arabian Contenders player and streamer after they insulted a trans caster.
Before the 2023 Overwatch World Cup qualifiers started, it was announced that Overwatch streamers on both Twitch and YouTube were free to co-stream the matches. In addition, many of the players, who were also streamers, were free to broadcast their POV if they so choose.
This allowed fans and streamers alike to watch their country’s representatives live and to show support, just as long as they followed co-streaming rules.
However, during the first weekend of matches controversy started in the EMEC qualifiers after a Saudi Arabian streamer was seen insulting a trans caster. And on June 27, the Overwatch Path to Pro announced they were banned from all official Overwatch esports programs.
— Overwatch Path to Pro (@owpathtopro) June 26, 2023
“Over the weekend, an Overwatch World Cup co-streamer used derogatory language toward one of our casters in violation of our rules,” the statement read. “We have removed this co-streamer from all official Overwatch esports programs moving forward.”
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The statement would go on to reiterate Blizzard’s code of conduct for co-streamers, and apologize to anybody who was hurt by the comments.
The statement did not directly mention who the co-streamer was. However, based on the very public backlash over the past 24 hours, it appears it is indeed in reference to Legendary, a player for Triple Esports, and Alivelol, a player for Onyx Ravens. Both were explicitly seen calling a trans caster on the EMEC broadcast an “animal” and a “pig” during a co-stream of the qualifiers.
The clip of the insults surfaced when Poland’s Tank player, FOREVER774, tweeted out after their defeat against the Saudis that their co-streamers were insulting the caster.
As of writing, Saudi Arabia is currently leading its group in the EMEC qualifiers, with a 4-0 win record. Saudi Arabia was pegged as favorites to make it to the main event, as the core of their team plays on Twisted Minds, which won the most recent Europe Spring Series.
