Overwatch Pro Player “Ellie” Turns Out To Be A Social Experiment, Team Issues New Statement
The world of competitive Overwatch gameplay recently saw some drama surrounding a new player that arrived on the scene. A player by the name of Ellie joined Overwatch’s minor league, Overwatch Contenders, with the team Second Wind. Unfortunately after weeks of harassment Ellie bowed out of the team, but the story that started out as a tale of toxicity has just become even weirder – apparently, it was all a “sociel experienment.”
Ellie joined the Second Wind back in late December, causing some waves within the Overwatch community as the player was previously an unknown entity. Some players went so far as to doxx Ellie as seen with screenshots from a Discord server that Ellie later posted onto social media. The posts claimed that “It’s doxxing time. Not for malicious intent, just to figure s— out,” and arrived from a high ranking, but banned, player by the name of Haunt.
this guy is a fucking psychopath pic.twitter.com/xWf3Jy4aLS
— ellie (@ellie_ow) December 23, 2018
Where other players on Second Wind had used their full names, Ellie did not. While this doesn’t go against the rules of the Overwatch League or Second Wind, this was enough to cause suspicion within the community that later turned into a conspiracy theory that the player was not who they claimed to be. Some of the theories were curious, where others brought gender into the issue saying a female player couldn’t make pro. There were also many gamers that used sexuality claims and transpobic remarks to debase their placement in the League.
To prove her existence, Ellie played on streams with other pro players, including one player by the name of Punisher, who some claimed was playing as her and she just lent her voice. This was not enough for some fans including one Overwatch League player by the name of Dafran, who pushed the idea that somebody else was behind the controls while Ellie was merely providing fake commentary.
Ellie recently left the team after weeks of harassment from the community and the owner of Second Wind posted his own thoughts on the situation. According to Justin Hughes, Ellie had been pulled into multiple directions by the Overwatch community with some wanting her to be their “messiah” and symbol of empowerment while others simply questioned the legitimacy of a previously unknown player and issuing threats. This led to an enormous amount of pressure on the player that led to her leaving the team altogether.
(2/2) their Messiah. Between needing a player to live up to huge expectations and having to question their own safety, it seems that the OW community isn't ready to just view a player as just a player. We wanted a player, but it seemed like the public wanted something else.
— Justin Hughes (@JustinCHughes_) January 2, 2019
Unfortunately, a recently issued a statement from Second Wind concerning “Ellie” and confirmed that the player was not who they claimed to be.
As of today, Blizzard had gotten back to us on the background of Ellie, and notified us that they were not who they claimed to be, and discovered that the Ellie account was used for purposes we do not support. We apologize to the community as a whole for not handling this situation better when we should have, and we will aim to do better.
As for the identity of “Ellie,” an esports consultant and insider by the name of Rod Breslau has recently provided screenshots that indicate that the player Punisher did in fact use the account as a way to grief the Overwatch league and other top players within the community. Breslau later states that a player by the name of Catsui as well as other female players were approached by Punisher with the prospect of being the voice of Ellie.
Catsui tells me over the phone that Punisher also proposed to her a similar 'social experiment' as his playing through/with Ellie, and she says that he apparently had asked several women in the Overwatch community the same.
— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) January 5, 2019
Punisher has yet to make a comment on his involvement in the Ellie “social experiment,” however Blizzard and the Overwatch League will be more diligent in vetting future prospective players before any more damage can be done.
Let us know your thoughts on the bizarre and disappointing Overwatch incident in the comments section below. You can also hit us up over on Twitter @Don’t Feed the Gamers on Twitter to sound off.
Chris Calles1560 Posts
Known as "Stash" or Yippee Calles. He's a student of everything, avid adrenaline junkie, and creator of random things. When he's not delving into a game, book, or movie - He's out teaching himself new things or taking part in some pretty epic adventures. You can find him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr.
