xQc Thoughts Of Politics And Esports

Streamers and gamers can often use their ever-growing platforms to advocate for political ideas and beliefs, or even put their beliefs to good use by hosting community tournaments for charitable purposes. 

Other gamers, on the other hand, can often get into trouble because of their political ideas, and players have lately been banned due to the crisis between Russia and Ukraine. The most recent political controversy erupted when Virtus.pro Dota 2 player Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko drew a ‘Z’ symbol on the in-game minimap against Ukrainian organization Mind Games – the symbol has connotations of a pro-Russian military ‘victory’ message, which is often seen on tanks and military uniforms in the current Ukrainian conflict. The implications of his actions have gained the attention of some of esports’ most notable figures, notably Felix “xQc” Lengyel, after he was kicked from the Virtus.pro brand and his team “Outsiders” was kicked from the Pro Circuit event.

While on-stream, xQc, who is likely Twitch’s greatest personality right now, saw the issue and immediately denounced the activity. However, he swiftly added his thoughts on using esports as a platform for politics, claiming that the sector lacks place for such expression. 

xQc stated; “Overall, it doesn’t matter what it is, anything political in the middle of a tournament game is just f**king yikes. I don’t give a f**k about what side it’s for or what it is. I don’t care what it is. Politics in video games, why?” 

The political stance of esports and mainstream sports has been scrutinized frequently, particularly in the last two years, when social movements such as Black Lives Matter have been mistaken for political campaigns, and organizations have come under fire for their unsupportive actions during the Russian/Ukraine conflict. 

However, xQc hasn’t always avoided politics in gaming, which should be taken with a grain of salt. Despite the fact that politics were not discussed on the broadcast, the streamer was a big part of the Among Us stream starring US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (“AOC”), where the indie game was pushed into the spotlight. 

In retaliation for his conduct in-game, the Dota 2 player was also banned from contests, indicating that potentially radical political beliefs will not be accepted in esports. xQc didn’t spend any more time on the subject, preferring to focus on his fluffier stuff while playing poker with Ludwig “Ludwig” Ahgren.