South Korean fighting gamer Seon-woo “Infiltration” Lee revealed last night that he has been banned from several major community events, including this year’s Evolution Championship Series (Evo). While the news came as a shock, many who know the very prominent contestant Controversial The past Consider that a long time coming.
Evo and Combo Breaker (arguably the second most popular tournament in the fighting game community) contacted Lee via email to inform him that he would not be allowed to participate in their events, according to Screenshots he posted to me on Twitter. Both emails report non-specific violations of each event’s Code of Conduct policies and offer refunds for Lee’s entry fee.
Spoke with KotakuRick Theher, general manager of Evo, explained that the event is “committed to promoting a safe environment for our players and fans” and that organizers are asking competitors and attendees to “work with Evo to build a supportive community that treats each other with respect and dignity” and continued: “This expectation is shared by other events such as Combo Breaker and Community Effort Orlando, East Coast Throwdown, and Intercontinental Fight Club, all of which also blocked Lee.
“Evo will not publicly discuss individual enforcement decisions, but will take the necessary steps to support our Code of Conduct and create a welcoming environment at Evo competitions,” Thaher added. “These efforts are vital to Evo’s future and the experience we strive to create for our community.”
Kotaku I also contacted Lee, but did not receive a response prior to publication.
Lee wrote, “I really think this can be sorted out with proper conversation.” Twitter message. “I hope the organizers will speak up and explain exactly why the procedure prevented me from entering. Also from these organizers, I request a proper apology for causing financial and mental stress while planning various overseas trips to attend these events and reversing their decision to refuse entry.
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Lee’s statement also detailed several previous incidents of not being allowed to compete in high-profile fighting game tournaments. What he didn’t do, unsurprisingly, is get into the potential reasons for tournaments not wanting him in attendance, of which there are many.
While previously unknown, Lee quickly became a household name in the fighting game community thanks to his third-place finish in Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition at Evo 2010. He spent the next several years earning even more Evo medals and performing well in various fighting games, including Street Fighter x Tekken, Street Fighter V, Samurai Shodownand Guilty Gear Strive. Lee’s tournament wins were naturally followed by sponsorship deals with businesses like Mad Catz, Razer, and Monster Energy.
But back in 2018, Lee made headlines for different reasons when he was accused of domestic violence Against his now ex-wife. a Continue scanning Through its then sponsor, esports organization Panda Global, it found the allegations credible and removed Lee from its list. Lee also deliberately distanced himself from the Capcom official Street Fighter Championships for a year, while challenging allegations of abuse for which he was arrested, a South Korean court convicted him and fined him.
Lee’s shameful return to competition after a year-long absence sparked a huge backlash, especially when Ivo himself praised him.”victorious return“After winning samurai fight In 2019. At that time, Evo was still a popular process, but the championship was so Recently purchased by Sony Following the departure of co-founder and CEO Joey “Assistant” Cuellar After allegations of sexual misconduct.
Instead of keeping his nose clean, Lee kept causing trouble. Last year, for example, I had Will beSomething coordinated with friends newbie scam Street Fighter V The tournament he organized with Korean broadcasting site AfreecaTV, its largest sponsor at the time.
Discord screenshots show that Lee is encouraging the person who won this event, a master level player in other fighting games, not to increase their abilities Street Fighter V Rank high for fear of arousing suspicion. After these details were leaked, Lee angrily directed his accusers via Twitch calling them “assholes” and “trash” who just wanted to tear him up.
He eventually apologized to me, but not before AfreecaTV dropped him as a sponsored operator.
As for how Lee took this ban, he started his first broadcast on Twitch after hearing the news saying it was okay for him to do so. use the word n Talk to black fighting games players. racist comments explain later, earned him a seven-day suspension from the streaming platform, but Lee still didn’t think he had done anything wrong. Instead, he chose to portray the whole thing as some sort of malicious plot against an innocent man.
“I did a broadcast that explained what happened to me because of Combo Breaker and Evo and then I got banned,” Lee told sympathetic viewers during a YouTube live broadcast early this morning. “Is it just a coincidence? This is not hate speech. If you look at my last broadcast, it wasn’t hate speech. It was not racist. But folks who hate stealth, they just interrupt this moment and might as well send it to Twitch Global.