According to reports, Overwatch League pro Timo "Taimou" Kettunen, a member of the Dallas Fuel esports team, was heard making homophobic remarks and using anti-gay slurs during a Twitch stream on January 23rd. Despite making the comments on a public stream and having since been reported to league officials, there has been no response from Blizzard, the Dallas Fuel's coach or anybody involved in Overwatch League.
A community member watching the Twitch live stream of Taimou playing the game reported the comments immediately through the customer service system for Overwatch, attaching video clips of Taimou using Homophobic Slurs against other players.
A representative from Blizzard Entertainment responded to confirm they would pass the complaint on to the relevant party.
After receiving no further updates, the member contacted Blizzard's customer service again, and was told they could not be told anything due to "privacy/security concerns," but was assured that "this has not been ignored." The ticket on the complaint was closed soon after.
What did Taimou say?
The video footage, captured by the community user, featured Taimou playing Overwatch, albeit in his own time, rather than as part of the eSports league. He allegedly called another player a "batty boy," and said that an adversary was a "f***ng f****t kid" who should uninstall the game.
Taimou has yet to comment on the situation, while his team Dallas Fuel claimed they had not been informed of the situation until asked for comment by ESPN.
The team's spokesman, Greg Miller, said that the Dallas Fuel " looks into any situation that goes against a code of conduct befitting the team and/or league." Overwatch League commissioner Nate Nanzer claims every pro player signs a Code of Conduct which "covers everything from player behavior, both when competing and online, on social media, to policies on drug testing and doping." However, the specifics of this Code of Conduct are not known to the general public, with only a general one available through Blizzard's site.
Overwatch League pros have been reprimanded in the past
This is not the first time that an Overwatch pro has caused controversy. Taimo's Dallas Fuel teammate Félix "xQc" Lengye was slapped with a four-game suspension and $2,000 fine, by the League, after he directed homophobic slurs at openly gay Houston Outlaws player Austin "Muma" Wilmot, which were deemed in breach of the Overwatch League code of conduct.
These measures came overnight following xQc's comments.
Meanwhile, London Spitfire pro, Park "Profit" Joon-yeong was fined $1,000, by the League, after raising his middle finger to the camera before beginning a match. He has since claimed the gesture was in response to a comment made by the audio team, and he hadn't realized the video was being broadcast live.
Other violators of the Code of Conduct have included Philadelphia Fusion's Su-min 'SADO' Kim, suspended for thirty games for account boosting, a practice where an established player is paid to take over the account of a less experienced player and advance them through levels of competition to boost their level, which has seen many non-pro players banned from the game.