Members of the online gaming community have long been aware of the latent toxicity lurking beneath its surface \u2014\u00a0but recent events have brought the dark side of esports fandom to the fore. <\/p>\n
And as fan blowback becomes a regular occurrence in esports, the industry is turning into a potential minefield for the brands looking use it as a vehicle to reach gamers.<\/p>\n
The phenomenon of toxic fandom is not limited to esports. Traditional sports fans are known to often get rude and aggressive with each other, both in person and online \u2014 and that\u2019s not to mention the riots<\/a> that regularly occur after major sports games <\/strong>and matches around the world. But in competitive gaming, the petulant, abusive, and often sexist and racist, side of fandom can be particularly pronounced due to the extremely online nature of both esports fans and pro players.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of esports is centered around livestreams; if it\u2019s not around livestreams, it\u2019s around VOD comments on the actual content,\u201d said Alex Gonzalez, who leads the prominent Canadian esports organization Luminosity Gaming. \u201cWith traditional sports, you do get the talking heads online,\u00a0you get social media and all that, but a lot of it might just be in person, right? People are on the sidelines yelling at the players \u2014\u00a0but then they go home, go on with their day and that\u2019s the end of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a breakdown of some recent situations that have demonstrated the toxicity of the esports community \u2014 and what they show about the current brand safety challenges facing the competitive gaming industry.<\/p>\n At the Streamer Awards on March 12, the popular Twitch streamer Kyedae Shymko won the award for Best \u201cValorant\u201d Streamer \u2014\u00a0and immediately apologized for receiving the honor, anticipating that she would be dogpiled online by angry fans of Tarik Celik, another streamer nominated for the award.<\/p>\n The moment I won I felt more dread than anything because I knew the hate I\u2019d get. Woohoo. Tarik is much deserving of this award than anyone but it was fan voted. Not my fault. And I\u2019m so sorry for whoever this upset<\/p>\n \u2014 kyedae ? (@kyedae) March 12, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Although Celik condemned the dogpiling fans in a tweet<\/a>, the fact remains that a prominent Twitch streamer immediately felt the need to enter defense mode after winning an award that was intended to acknowledge her widespread popularity and entertainment abilities. (Shymko, Celik and Streamer Awards organizer QTCinderella declined to comment for this article.)<\/p>\n The situation highlighted the particularly snarling nature of the \u201cValorant\u201d community, one of world\u2019s youngest and most rapidly growing<\/a> esports scenes. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen somebody wins an award and we don\u2019t like it, it\u2019s just a spew of toxicity,\u201d said Diogo Santos, a writer for the \u201cValorant\u201d news site VLR<\/a>. \u201cWe, as a community, often feel too eager to jump on people and call them out for things that oftentimes just need a bit more clarification.\u201d<\/p>\n Last month, Gabby \u201cLeTigress\u201d Durden, a broadcaster working for the \u201cLeague of Legends\u201d Championship Series, stirred up controversy when she delivered a controversial pre-game monologue<\/a> referencing the reportedly toxic management issues<\/a> at the prominent esports organization TSM, as well as the role of \u201cLeague of Legends\u201d pro Yiliang \u201cDoublelift\u201d Peng in bringing the issues to light.\u00a0<\/p>\n Fans of both TSM and Peng \u2014\u00a0who was formerly on TSM\u2019s roster and currently plays for 100 Thieves \u2014 immediately jumped down Durden\u2019s throat, leading Durden and Riot Games to issue separate apology posts for the monologue. But the monologue simply referenced well-known controversies that had already been heavily covered in the press prior to the broadcast, and the decision to apologize for mentioning the obvious was a source of consternation for some members of Riot\u2019s communications team, who felt it would be bending too much to the will of angry fans.<\/p>\n The blow-up highlighted the particular ways in which female and femme-presenting public figures have to tread more lightly than their male counterparts in the gaming and esports community. (Durden, Peng and Riot Games representatives declined to speak to Digiday for this story.)<\/p>\n \u201cI know firsthand that having opinions or standing my ground can often result in being dogpiled, but I personally don\u2019t tread more lightly. I am, however, incredibly intentional on what I say and how I say things. I am who I am and I\u2019m proud of my journey,\u201d said RekItRaven, a Twitch streamer and outspoken advocate for marginalized voices on Twitch. \u201cBut I can\u2019t really hold it against women and femme folk who do tread more lightly. We often forget that the internet is a reflection of the society we find ourselves in, so I believe that it\u2019s because there is still a patriarchal view of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n While the average gaming fan might be willing to brush off some of the aforementioned controversies, the brand partners that provide the esports scene with its lifeblood are taking notice. Brand safety is a growing concern in esports, and a streamer apologizing for winning one of the space\u2019s largest awards does not reflect positively on its value as advertising inventory.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe increase in prevalence of toxic content is not exclusive to esports, but obviously competition, high profile personalities and esports being a passion, heightens the audiences emotional state and presents more triggers for emotive content. Add to this the skewed younger audience, and you\u2019re seeing a higher prevalence of harmful content in esports,\u201d said Malph Minns, managing director of the agency Strive Sponsorship. \u201cBrands, in general, are extremely sensitive to this and tread carefully to produce empathetic and non-polarizing content. This presents its own challenge creatively, as balancing this against providing entertaining and engaging content becomes an even greater skill.\u201d<\/p>\n So far, the risks are more theoretical than tangible \u2014 but the recent controversies have already threatened to directly impact next year\u2019s Streaming Awards. Following the situation, Streamer Awards organizer QTCinderella told fans<\/a> that she was considering removing the \u201cValorant\u201d categories from next year\u2019s proceedings.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe reality brands operate in is way more conservative than any of us will admit,\u201d said Douglas Brundage, CEO of the brand studio Kingsland, who previously worked on both the \u201cOverwatch\u201d League and \u201cLeague of Legends.\u201d \u201cThere\u2019s a reflex to avoid anything that follows the rule of threes \u2014 \u2018okay, there\u2019s been one incident. Oh, now there\u2019s been a second one, and now a third one.\u2019 And in gaming, and especially in esports, it seems like there\u2019s a scandal every month, if not every week.\u201d<\/p>\n On top of the abuse leveled at prominent creators and influencers in the space, endemic esports journalism outlets have struggled to grow their audiences, resulting in waves of layoffs<\/a> across the industry last year. The treatment of journalists in the space gives a window into why many publications have struggled to find purchase.\u00a0<\/p>\n When Mikhail Klimentov, a journalist at the Washington Post, questioned OpTic Gaming representatives about cheating allegations involving one of the team\u2019s players during a September 2021 press conference, OpTic chief gaming officer Mike Rufail took to Twitter<\/a> to criticize the question, sparking fan backlash against Klimentov. When esports reporter George Geddes broke news about Cloud9\u2019s \u201cValorant\u201d roster last week, Celik publicly criticized him for spoiling the announcement<\/a>. (Hating on Geddes is such a popular pastime among online \u201cValorant\u201d fans that Klimentov wrote a Substack post<\/a> on the topic in February.)<\/p>\n Even Digiday\u2019s report about the recent layoffs at 100 Thieves sparked a dogpile from angry 100 Thieves fans after a prominent influencer unfoundedly described the article as \u201cgarbage<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Esports fandom is largely aspirational; fans of teams see them as companies where they themselves might be able to work or compete in the future.\u00a0As a result, any reporting that reflects negatively on the industry tends to elicit a furious response from many esports fans, who take the criticism of the industry as a threat to their future employment.\u00a0<\/p>\nKyedae faces blowback for winning an award<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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LeTigress gets heat for stating the obvious<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Why should brands care?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Journalists are getting dogpiled for doing their job<\/strong>s<\/h2>\n