Professional Street Fighter V players keep getting themselves banned by series developer Capcom, and this most recent string of bans is a response to some particularly nasty behavior. When even the likes of paid esports athletes can't play a video game without letting vitriol spew out of their mouths, it makes it even harder for people to take gaming as seriously as other, better-established forms of media.
For as long as fighting game tournaments like EVO have been around in the still-young esports world, Street Fighter players have enjoyed seats at the some of the field's most prestigious tables. Considering all of the work put into mastering a single game and their wonderful opportunity to duke it out against other gaming professionals for a living, it's baffling how many esports athletes are willing to throw it all away over emotional immaturity and salt. Numerous Street Fighter V players, especially, have been anything but cool cats lately, forcing Capcom's hand in doling out the weightiest bans at its disposal to the most blatant rule offenders.
Recently, Capcom's official esports Twitter account announced that players Dalauan Sparrow and Christina Tran - better known as LowTierGod and Ceroblast by peer and fans - have each been globally banned from all of Capcom's "tournaments and events in locations throughout the world." The reason given for their simultaneous bans (a rarity in any sport) is that they "made offensive statements online," which is putting it lightly. As summarized by Game Rant, Sparrow was recorded going on a wildly hateful, "transphobic rant" against Tran after losing to her in an April 16 exhibition match. Meanwhile, footage of Tran "using racial slurs on streams" surfaced in response only days later. Sparrow's and Tran's well-deserved bans will be upheld for an "indefinite period including this year and beyond."
Capcom may have done a less-than-stellar job with Street Fighter V's at release and post-launch support until somewhat recently, but there's no good argument that can be made that suggests that the Japanese company, its American division, or its esports arm have fostered the kind of environment where two adult professionals would tear entire groups of people down over a fighting game. Though it can be difficult to hand out penalties proportionate to their offenses, Capcom's response is metered and rational. Not only do esports teams and leagues live and die based on their ability to draw sponsors, but Sparrow's and Tran's casual tendencies to resort to hate speech is a wider ill that needs to be rooted out of the mainstream gaming community once and for all.
After this recent spate of unsavory Street Fighter V bans, it can be hoped that other esports athletes consider themselves put on notice for what is and what definitely is not acceptable behavior. However, if other publishers and leagues were taking their players' most unmarketable and generally disappointing remarks as seriously as Capcom is currently, the likes of Sparrow and Tran as they are now would have probably never been in the public eye in the first place.