The Breakdown

The largest Valorant pro to switch over from Overwatch is officially suspended for six months for failure to cooperate with Riot after allegations from his ex that he sexually assaulted her. Plus, a CS:GO match is forced to be replayed after one team pressures Flashpoint into giving Ninjas in Pyjamas another shot at taking down a team that has already officially beat them. And, Twitch changes subscription prices according to the standard of living in different countries.

Sinatraa Suspended for Six Months for Failure to Cooperate with Riot After Sexual Assault Allegations

After hinting recently that he is just waiting for “everything to finally end”, it seems like Sinatraa and his return to Valorant will have to wait, at least for another six months minimum. On Monday, Riot officially announced sanctions against Sinatraa, the former Sentinels star, after he “failed to cooperate” with Riot and failing to provide evidence that Riot requested from him. Shortly after Riot announced their findings, Sinatraa responded on Twitter, and released a statement that may hold some clues as to what went on during the preliminary investigation.

Ninjas in Pyjamas Force Rematch; Flashpoint Under Fire From Other Pros for Folding to Pressure

Ninjas in Pyjamas were looking for their first win in the first match they were participating in since the blockbuster signing of Dev1ce and the first team he would be competing for after leaving his former team of Astralis. But instead of a win, NiP instead encountered laggy servers, tons of packet loss, and an overall just really not fun time while they took on Anonymo. And while they eventually fell in overtime, most people assumed that it would be a rough start but NiP would move forward and look to win next time.

But that’s not what happened, and what did eventually transpire actually ended up making plenty of people even angrier than the NiP players probably felt after losing the first match. Flashpoint, the tournament organizer that the teams were competing for, are now forcing both teams to replay the match, something that absolutely should make people question the integrity of the tournament overall and wonder what kind of precedent this sets. Never has esports seen something similar where a series was played, it ended, and then was completely replayed by the two teams to try and determine what the new end score will be.

Twitch Changes Prices of Subscriptions on Platform With Local Pricing

Twitch has revealed some huge new changes coming to the cost of subscriptions around the globe to better reflect the cost of living in those countries while still giving viewers a chance to support their favorite creators. On Monday, Twitch announced that they would be changing the subscription price that viewers would be paying for their favorite streamers with something they are calling “Local Subscription Pricing.” Starting on May 20th, people will pay different amounts for a subscription to a streamer based off of where they live, and what the cost of living is relative to their local areas. This seems to stem from data that Twitch has that shows that viewers from Europe or Asia who subscribe to a streamer are around 50% less relative to North America, and if you look at the numbers from Latin America, it’s almost 80% lower.

CD Projekt Red, the developers behind Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3, has recently said that they are currently focused on improving Cyberpunk and want to improve the game so that they can “successfully sell it for years to come”. Plus, major changes in huge name CS:GO rosters see Xypn9x being replaced, KennyS being benched, and RpK stepping down. And, COD Mobile is BANNED in Iran, and confused players ask Activision to step in and reverse the block.

Fortnite Season 6 Chapter 2 is live now, with plenty of changes to the Battle Royale that has fans now PUMPED that Lara Croft will be joining Jonesy and the rest of the Fortnite crew. Plus, a massive computer technology company cuts ties with League of Legends after sexual harassment allegations against the Riot Games CEO. And, star NBA player Kevin Durant partners with Andbox and the New York Subliners to make New York the epicenter of esports.

The timeline was spicy yesterday, as a Hell in the Cell style team-up happened, with a three-way stand-off between COD pros and owners talking trash to each other as hastr0, CouRage JD, and JKap all fired off tweets coming just short of challenging each other to death by combat. Plus, one of the most decorated Rainbow Six Siege players of all time announces his retirement and decides to pursue making content full time. And, TSM’s CEO Andy Dinh apologizes after telling a pro he would be working for minimum wage after the player called for the repeal of the import rule in the LCS.

Soulja Boy is back and is ready to release ANOTHER console, showing he learned literally nothing from the last time Nintendo sued him into oblivion forcing him to cancel his last one. Plus, Daigo Umehara wins at Capcom Pro Tour Season Finals with a broken finger! And, Tony Hawk hits up Crash Bandicoot on Twitter to get the Tony Hawk Pro Skater Remake released on the Switch, and it may have worked.

A DOTA 2 Team is disqualified from a DreamHack competition after they faked a COVID-19 test result and gave all of their opponents a win, plus, Fortnite and Street Fighter are going to be teaming up very soon thanks to a new leak that confirms a skin crossover event, AND, the CDL announces a new Super Week after matches were postponed due to Texas snowstorms.

Esports have been included in the next Olympic Agenda according to the IOC, and what that could mean when it comes to how soon until it means that you can see an Olympic esports competition at the next Olympic games. Plus, a Rainbow Six caster quits streaming because of the constant toxicity and threats of assault that were given to her just because she was a woman playing a video game. And, Nintendo announces a surprise Direct for the 17th of February, and what it could be discussing.

EA’s monstrosity “Anthem” that has been in a holding pattern for almost a year will have its fate decided this week which would see the game dusted off after a disastrous launch or finally put out of its misery, plus T1 dump Brax and AZK from their Valorant roster and break up the former iBuyPower CS:GO team once again, and E3 will happen this year, but virtually only.

The #1 Valorant player in the EU was BANNED for cheating, but says he’s being bullied! Plus, Overwatch 2 isn’t coming in 2021, and can Overwatch and the Overwatch League survive another year without the new game? And, Activision sued for ripping off a Warzone Operator design, down to even hiring the same hair stylists to make her look exactly the same!

Apex Legends launches Season 8 today, with the release of a new Legend and a return to the Kings Canyon map, and we’ll fill you in on everything new this season and what to expect when you log in. Plus, Facebook Gaming commits to stopping cheaters after a high profile streamer quits Warzone ENTIRELY after seeing a blatant cheater continue streaming on the platform. And, the esports org TSM exit Fortnite, and drop their entire roster.