Felix Lengyel, also known as xQc, has made a bold claim about the Overwatch League. While watching an old clip from 2019, he reacted strongly to what was reported about the increase in viewership rates. He said the league may have used bots to inflate its audience numbers.
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.Businessman Mark Cuban stated in the video that the league reached about 300,000 viewers at its peak. xQc strongly disagreed with this claim. He said, “These numbers were so hidden, it’s comical.” He added that the real numbers are likely to be much lower. But he did not provide any evidence or confirm the source of the information.
xQc says “those numbers were very flawed” and claims fake viewership influenced his exit from esports
xQc explained that he once heard about the real viewing numbers from an insider during the league’s early testing phase on Major League Gaming. He said that person told him how many people were already watching, and he was shocked by the number. As he put it, “These numbers were so hidden… I won’t say who told me, but I said, ‘Oh my God!’” Although he did not reveal the source, he said that 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 allegations, he began planning his exit. He wondered how he could grow as a live player if the league’s real audience was much smaller than what was being shown. For him, building his own collection and personal brand became more important than staying competitive.He also talked about the strict rules in the league. According to xQc, players were not allowed to live stream during official matches.
This made it difficult for him to produce content and interact with his followers. He stated that he needed to devote his time to training, playing games, and adhering to his team’s schedule, but he was unable to stream and produce content simultaneously.In the end, xQc felt that staying in the Overwatch League wasn’t worth it. He thought he would lose more than he would gain. While his claims about viewership are serious, they remain unproven. However, his story gives fans a closer look at why he chose to leave professional esports and focus entirely on streaming instead.
