Twitch Temporarily Bans Former Pro Overwatch Player xQc

Former pro-Overwatch League player Félix "xQc" Lengyel has been temporarily banned from Twitch for his behavior during a November 14 Fall Guys tournament that took place as part of GlitchCon. The ban extends to Twitch Rivals tournaments and a suspension of his account.

According to the official Twitch Rivals Twitter account, xQc violated the Official Tournament Code of Conduct and Game Play Rules by tampering with the tiebreaker match in the November 14 Fall Guys tournament. xQc also violated policies around stream sniping, which is the practice of watching streams and intentionally deploying "snipers" to assist in or disrupt the streamer’s in-game efforts. xQc apologized for the interference from his team, saying he thought it "would be funny" but recognized the action was "still malicious" all the same.

"Stop defending [me] everywhere for no reason," xQc said. "We got into the final game with [Dr. Lupo] and [Shroud]'s team. We shouldn't [have] done it and it was wrong. I'm sorry for my actions."

xQc's ban is effective immediately and lasts six months, at which point he can participate in Twitch Rivals tournaments again. How long his Twitch account is suspended for is unknown. Further, xQc must forfeit all prize winnings from GlitchCon for his unsportsmanlike behavior.

Twitch used xQc's cheating violation and subsequent ban as an example, saying it takes player conduct seriously. "This type of behavior is unacceptable and will not be taken lightly," Twitch said. "We reserve the right to impose any additional penalties at our sole discretion."

xQc's career has been mired in controversy since he rose to prominence as an Overwatch player, particularly in the Overwatch League, where he used to play for the Dallas Fuel. He was suspended twice during his tenure on the team, which ultimately led to his departure from Dallas Fuel in March 2018. Since then, xQc joined Luminosity Gaming as a variety streamer.