As esports and streaming continue to gain popularity, the video game industry has a growing underbelly of bad behavior from excessive drinking to violence. Various organizations try to maintain a safe and positive community by issuing bans. Unfortunately, those punishments can be inconsistent – even within the same organization.

Don’t Drink and Stream

Twitch – the dominant service for watching people play video games live – has a policy against “dangerous consumption of alcohol” (Twitch.tv).  Despite this, popular streamers have crossed the line by passing out during live streams.  

Joseph “Mango” Marquez left his fans waiting for about three minutes while he was off camera – presumed passed out (Dexerto.com). For that, Twitch banned him for seven days. He later claimed that he only pretended to be passed out. Unfortunately, even a pretend pass-out from alcohol is still against Twitch’s policy.

Lyndon “LyndonFPS” Lauder nodded off during his live stream (Dotesports.com). While we do not know why he fell asleep, alcohol is presumed to be the cause due to the tall glass of beer in the foreground of his stream. Soon after passing out, he was banned. Later, he revealed that Twitch issued an indefinite ban.

So why did Lauder receive an indefinite ban while Marquez received only seven days? We do not know because Twitch does not publicly state why streamers were banned. Therefore, we cannot fully compare bans and judge if the decisions are fair and consistent. 

Accused Sexual Deviants

The #MeToo movement taught us to take sexual harassment and sexual assualt more seriously. As gaming becomes more culturally acceptable and diverse, we cannot let our guard down and allow sexual misdeeds to be forgotten.

Multiple women accused proffestional player Leah “Gllty” Hayes of propositioning sex an inapproiate touching (Gameinformer.com). As a result, the professional player was banned from multiple tournaments. As the accusations and bans came in, Hayes apologized on Twitter (Dexerto.com).

Similarly, photographer Chris Bahn has been accused by multiple women for sexual harassment (Dexerto.com). Bahn and Hayes attended the same events resulting in bans from similar organizations. Bahn has made a statement that seems to accept responsibility for his actions (Dexerto.com).

Reece “Bloominator” Bloom was banned by the E-Sports Entertainment Association (ESEA) for harassing a 15 year-old girl (Kotaku.com). The ban revealed the ugliness of the Counter-Strike community as fans took to Twitter and continued the harassment. While Bloom later apologized, the damage has been done – or perhaps that community had already been damaged?

Andre “OmGiTzAdre” Howard was banned from multiple competitions after being accused of rape (Kotaku.com). While both Howard and the accuser had made public statements, those statements have since been deleted. Howard was previously banned from competitions due to credit card fraud arrests (Thescoreesports.com).

In each of these cases, the accused was banned indefinitely. However, some of the most infamous players (later in this report) have received much lesser punishments.

Political Speech

Here in the United States, freedom of speech is one of our most treasured rights. However, other countries and some corporations have no respect for such rights.

Most notable is Ng “BlitzChung” Wai Chung’s one-year ban from the Hearthstone Grandmasters for supporting Hong Kong protesters during an interview (Polygon.com). After backlash from employees and customers, Blizzard reduced the ban to six months (Polygon.com).

User WarmSafflina was banned from Super Smash Bros.Ultimate for 9 hours due to a transgender flag appearing in their custom made stage (Boundingintocomics.com). Nintendo has not made a public statement regarding the ban or removal of the stage.

Neither of these incidences seem to make gaming communities less safe or less enjoyable, but nonetheless, Blizzard and Nintendo brought swift punishments to these unsuspecting gamers.

Watch Your Mouth

Most streaming services and esport organizations require some measure of composure. These players, however, have crossed that line.

Kurt “Kurt0411” Fenech has become so notorious that he actually has a rap sheet from EA (EA.com). He has been indefinitely banned for a multitude of offenses from routinely harassing EA to spitting on an EA branded scarf (Dexerto.com). And neither EA nor Fenech are willing to back down as they exchange official statements and insults (respectively).

Twitch streamer Macaiyla had her League of Legends account permanently banned by Riot for toxicity (Dotesports.com). She was able to create a new account and continue playing. Ironically, she was not banned by Twitch which has its own anti-toxicity policy (framed as anti-harassment: Twitch.tv). Macaiyla has stated that the ban was unfair compared to her boyfriend, Tyler1, who was once considered the most toxic player in North America.

Fenech and Macaiyla are intense streamers, and rightfully face serious consequences, but they are still not as shocking as the most infamous gamers.

Most Infamous

For better or worse, these players have made a name for themselves. While some seem to have profited from their misdeeds, others have received only disdain from the gaming community – and we will not soon forget them.

Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp was permanently banned by Riot for toxicity (Leagueoflegends.com). As previously stated, he earned the title of “Most Toxic Player in North America”. However, after two years, Riot lifted the ban (Dotesports.com).  Steinkamp declared that he was rehabilitated, and Riot agreed. Since then, it seems that Steinkamp has kept his nose clean and avoided any rebanning. 

Guy “Dr Disrespect” Beahm streamed live from a public bathroom at E3 in 2019 (Screenrant.com). For this, he received only a two-week ban from Twitch despite breaking numerous streaming policies and California law. He was also banned for the remainder of E3 2019; no word on if he is banned from E3 2020.

Luke “MrDeadMoth” Munday allegedly assaulted his pregnant partner while on a live Twitch stream (Theverge.com). Originally, he was only banned for a month. However, community outrage caused Twitch to ban him indefinitely.

In 2016, Noel Brown was banned from the remainder of the Capcom Pro Tour season for grouping a woman (Polygon.com). In 2013, Brown was arrested for allegedly assaulting his ex-girlfriend and another player (Kotaku.com) And in 2011, Brown allegedly assaulted a player when a fight broke out (Eventhubs.com). Since his ban in 2016, Brown can still be seen at various competitions, but it seems that he has not returned to the events that banned him.

In 2017, Félix “xQc” Lengyel joined professional Overwatch team Dallas Fuel (Twitter.com). Lengyel was already a controversial streamer, and joining a professional team did not change him.  Lengyel started 2018 by making homophobic remarks on stream about an opposing Overwatch League player (Dotesports.com). For that, Blizzard banned him for 4 days. He was later banned again for using racist emojis and harassing the casters and other players (Dotesports.com). Other players were punished too, but Lengyel received the brunt of it.  Due to that second ban, Dallas Fuel and Lengyel parted ways (Espn.com). But it wasn’t long until he was banned again, this time by Riot for inflammatory and offensive language while playing League of Legends (Dotesports.com). Lengyel received a permanent ban for that. He then eventually ran afoul of Twitch, receiving a three-day ban when he streamed porn (Gamerant.com). Lengyel was even banned from PUBG, but that was likely a mistake (Win.gg).

Inconsistencies

In the case of drunken streamers Marquez and Lauder, Twitch’s secrecy surrounding the reasons for their respective bans prevents us from having a quality debate about an appropriate punishment for dangerous behavior while streaming.  

For sexual misconduct, sexual harrasement, and rape, the video game industry fails to protect employees, never mind streamers and competitors (Gamesindustry.biz). While some players face permanent bans, other players like Noel Brown are still eligible to compete. And was a two-week ban sufficient to discourage Dr Disrespect from streaming in a public bathroom again?

Meanwhile, why did Blizzard swiftly and severely silence Blitzchong, but allowed xQc to continue harassing players and casters?

We have limited answers, but maybe with enough focus on punishment inconsistencies, we can truly improve the safety and enjoyment of video game communities.

Summary of Bans

Banned	Authority	General Accusation*	Length	Source	Notes
Andre “OmGiTzAdre” Howard	multiple	Rape	Indefinite	Kotaku.com
Andre “OmGiTzAdre” Howard	Mutiny Gaming	Credit card fraud	Indefinite	Thescoreesports.com
Chris Bahn	multiple	Sexual harassment	Indefinite	Dexerto.com	multiple accusers
Félix “xQc” Lengyel	Riot	Offensive language	Indefinite	Dotesports.com
Félix “xQc” Lengyel	Blizzard	Offensive language	4 Days	Dotesports.com
Félix “xQc” Lengyel	Blizzard	Offensive language	4 Days	Dotesports.com
Félix “xQc” Lengyel	Twitch	Lew content	3 Days	Gamerant.com
Félix “xQc” Lengyel	PUBG	Unknow, mistake	1 Day	Win.gg
Guy “Dr Disrespect” Beahm	Twitch	Privacy violation, sexual misconduct, breaking local laws	2 weeks	Screenrant.com
Joseph “Mango” Marquez	Twitch	Dangerous consumption of alcohol	7 days	Dexerto.com
Kurt “Kurt0411” Fenech	EA	Misconduct	Indefinite	EA.com
Leah “Gllty” Hayes	multiple	Sexual harassment	Indefinite	Gameinformer.com	multiple accusers
Luke “MrDeadMoth” Munday	Twitch	Assault	<30 days	Theverge.com	Increased to indefinite
Lyndon “LyndonFPS” Lauder	Twitch	Presumed dangerous consumption of alcohol	Indefinite	Dotesports.com
Macaiyla	Riot	Toxicity	Limited indefinite	Dotesports.com	account-only ban
Ng “BlitzChung” Wai Chung	Blizzard	Political speech	1 year	Polygon.com	reduced to 6 months (Polygon.com)
Noel Brown	multiple	Sexual harassment	Season	Polygon.com	Previous arrests
Reece “Bloominator” Bloom	ESEA	Malicious activity	1,000 years	Kotaku.com
Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp	Riot	Toxicity	Indefinite	Leagueoflegends.com	Lifted after two years (Dotesports.com)
WarmSafflina	Nintendo	Political speech	9 hours	Boundingintocomics.com
*General accusations are an oversimplification of acts committed by the accused. General accusations may be inaccurate or even completely false. General accusations should not be considered fact unless proven in a court of law or stated to be true by the accused.