Robot Chicken tackles gamer stereotypes in new Overwatch League sketch

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"First I was a nerd because I wasn't cool and now nerds are cool and I'm STILL not cool! What the f*ck?"

Adult Swim's stop-motion animation comedy series Robot Chicken just kicked off its 10th season on Cartoon Network and wasted no time in tackling video games, esports, and outdated gamer stereotypes.

The sketch above presents an Overwatch League match on ESPN between the Omaha Tripe Munchers and the Sacramento Sasquatches. Omaha wins after Widowmaker takes down Bastion, and the stereotypical nerdy player celebrates—not just the win but the fact that people who are tuning in to see football are instead "watching a bunch of weird looking outcasts play video games instead! The nerds are taking over!"

But the rest of the Overwatch League players quickly object to being called nerds because they're all hot and physically fit. One has several endorsement deals and another quit basketball to play Overwatch for Stanford on a scholarship. "When did nerds get so hot?" the nerd laments upon seeing his handsome and ripped teammate in person for the first time. "First I was a nerd because I wasn't cool, and now nerds are cool and I'm still not cool! What the f*ck?"

The sketch makes a good (if obvious) point—as much as some gamers hate to admit it, gaming isn't some niche, specialist hobby. Gaming is 100% mainstream and it's silly to pretend you're some heroic pioneer simply because you play games. We all do. Everyone does. Get over yourself.

Meanwhile, the hotties and the nerd in the sketch quickly find common ground when they all freely admit spanking it to Widowmaker. One begins masturbating live on air, and ESPN quickly cuts to a "real sport," golf.

"Wow, a true athlete, folks," the announcer murmurs admiringly, as a golfer with a beer belly stands on manicured grass and sinks an easy putt.

Christopher Livingston
Christopher Livingston
Senior Editor

Chris started playing PC games in the 1980s, started writing about them in the early 2000s, and (finally) started getting paid to write about them in the late 2000s. Following a few years as a regular freelancer, PC Gamer hired him in 2014, probably so he'd stop emailing them asking for more work. Chris has a love-hate relationship with survival games and an unhealthy fascination with the inner lives of NPCs. He's also a fan of offbeat simulation games, mods, and ignoring storylines in RPGs so he can make up his own.