Blizzard suspends pro Overwatch player Dafran for griefing

Blizzard has suspended pro Overwatch player Dafran from competing in the Overwatch Contenders Season Zero, due to his unsavoury conduct on Twitch. In addition to that, the Tracer and Soldier 76 specialist will not be able to compete in Season One, and his access to Overwatch has been suspended for a week.

A member of the Selfless team, Kotaku reports that Dafran has established a less-than-exemplary reputation of late, chiefly for griefing and shoehorning porn images into his Twitch livestreams. Blizzard found that Dafran had violated Rule 7.0 of the Overwatch Contenders Ruleset, which states that "all competitors and spectators are required to act in a respectful sportsmanlike manner at all times."

Dafran's response wasn't exactly sporting, though it did show remorse. On TwitLonger he had the following to say: "I honestly do not give a shit what happends [sic] to me and my fucking career, you can all go fuck yourselves."

"BUT," he continued, "I am starting to realise my actions may be affecting my org, teammates and their careers... time to reform into Seagull V2 and be a cute little nice guy FeelsBadMan. Troll community, disband.... :("

Meanwhile, his team Selfless – which will still be able to compete with a substitute – offered its own statement. "While Dafran will no longer be playing with our team, we will be assisting him in finding the help, counseling, and guidance that he needs to improve his mental and emotional well-being," it read.

"He is a dear friend, and we will be as supportive as possible during this time off from competitive play, so that he can come back stronger and better than ever. In the meantime, we will be finding a substitute/replacement for the remainder of the Contenders Season Zero."

Selfless's full statement can be read over here.

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.