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Felix Lengyel, also known as xQc, has made a bold claim about the Overwatch League. While watching an old 2019 clip, he reacted strongly to reported high viewership numbers. He said the league may have used bots to inflate its audience figures. This surprised many fans, as the Overwatch League was once seen as one of the biggest esports events with huge global attention and millions of fans following matches online.In the video, businessman Mark Cuban mentioned that the league had reached around 300,000 viewers at its peak. xQc strongly disagreed with this claim. He said, “These numbers were so botted, it’s comical,” and added that the real numbers were likely much lower. However, he did not provide any proof or confirm where the information came from.
xQc says “these numbers were so botted” and claims fake viewership influenced his exit from esports
xQc explained that he once heard about the real viewership numbers from an insider during the league’s early testing phase on Major League Gaming. He said this person told him how many people were actually watching, and the number shocked him. As he put it, “These numbers were so botted… I’m not going to say who told me, but I went, ‘Yo!’” Even though he did not reveal the source, he said this moment made him start thinking differently about his future in the league. At that time, xQc had already signed a contract to play professionally. But after hearing these claims, he began planning his exit. He questioned how he could grow as a streamer if the league’s real audience was much smaller than what was being shown. For him, building his own stream and personal brand became more important than staying in competition.He also talked about strict rules in the league. According to xQc, players were not allowed to stream during official matches. This made it difficult for him to produce content and engage with his followers. He mentioned that he needed to devote his time to training, playing games, and adhering to his team’s schedule, but was unable to stream and produce content simultaneously.In the end, xQc felt that staying in the Overwatch League was not worth it. He believed he would lose more than he would gain. While his claims about viewership are serious, they are still unproven. Still, his story gives fans a closer look at why he chose to leave professional esports and focus fully on streaming instead.
