Another week, another eSports scandal. The international spotlight has been heavy on professional gamers lately, from developers focusing their new games on eSports to cheating in world championships, all eyes are on professional gamers. StarCraft II pro gamer Ilyes “Stephano” Satouri, a member of well-known pro gaming clan Evil Geniuses has been suspended for the rest of October for saying he had “abused” a 14 year old during a livestreamed game.
Naturally every one went all sensationalistic and hailed headlines like: “Pro Gamer Suspended For Saying He Had Sex With a 14-Year-Old” and “Professional Video Gamer Suspended for Saying He Had Sex With a 14-Year-Old”. Now while we might say that we would like for gamers to take being “professional” serious and actually act professional, we know for a fact that this is pretty much a foolish expectation. The fact that it happened is as surprising as Gavin, Garth and Geoff drinking beer. The most stupid part to me is not that he made the inappropriate comment but that he managed to do it in a livestream and now, as a result of that, even though his team mates probably laughed their butts off have no choice but to take disciplinary actions.
Most of us have probably seen similar comments while playing an online game, but come on… no need to shame gamers this publicly. Evil Geniuses have issued a statement about Stephano’s suspension as well as a formal apology from the player.
Evil Geniuses’ Ilyes “Stephano” Satouri has been suspended without pay for the remainder of October following his recent inappropriate comments. Please read the full press release for more information.
To EG Fans, eSports Enthusiasts, and Concerned Members of the Gaming Community,
Today, Evil Geniuses announces that French Zerg player Ilyes “Stephano” Satouri has been suspended without pay for the remainder of October, following his recent inappropriate comments. He will be ineligible to participate in all online and offline competitions during the month of October, including the upcoming GD Invitational and DreamHack Bucharest tournaments for which he was previously signed up. We sincerely apologize to the respective organizers of these tournaments for any inconvenience the last-minute cancellations may cause.
That apology, however, obviously comes as secondary to a much more significant and direly-needed apology for Stephano’s inexcusable comments themselves. An apology in his own words can be found at the bottom of this post, but additionally, everyone at Evil Geniuses – including management, players, and staff – would like to sincerely apologize for these comments. They do not reflect our company’s sense of morality, behavior and propriety, and they will not be tolerated.
The full extent of the ramifications for Stephano’s comments is yet to be determined. The decision to suspend him, without pay, for the rest of October is final, but the situation is still being reviewed internally at EG, and we do not consider the matter closed as of yet.
We’d like to thank everyone in the gaming community for your patience, and we once again apologize for this incident. For those interested in reading it, Ilyes’ personal apology follows immediately below this note.
Sincerely,
Evil Geniuses
Ilyes “Stephano” Satouri’s Apology: “I want to very sincerely apologize to all of my fans, my teammates and management at EG, all of EG’s sponsors, and the rest of the community for my comments last week. They were insensitive, inappropriate, way over the line, and are deserving of the serious ramifications I have received from my team. I accept responsibility for my mistake, and I will be more careful in the future.”
Last Updated: October 15, 2012
