Warning: Graphic content.
The Overwatch competitive scene is in turmoil tonight after the announcement that the M80 Overwatch team has disbanded. Announced only one day ago, the reason for its closure deals with the retirement and release of two core roster members, respectively. In the case of the latter, a number of Discord screenshots taken during the 2023 Overwatch World Cup were leaked showing now-former M80 player Samuel “s9mm” Santos and former Overwatch League players Christian “Ojee” Han and Michael “mikeyy” Konicki allegedly using abhorrent racial slurs numerous times.
Editor’s update, 12:32 a.m. EST 3/2/24: Winthrop University esports announced via social media that Samuel “s9mm” Santos is now on indefinite suspension from its Overwatch 2 team.
Editor’s update, 1:58 p.m. EST 3/2/24: Well, nevermind that whole ‘disbanding’ thing, as M80 just announced their all-new roster for OWCS. Will it last more than a day? WHO KNOWS?
M80 Overwatch disband (Warning: Graphic language)
The above leaks that led to the disbanding of M80 Overwatch begins with the Twitter personality @ViewerOW receiving a number of Discord screenshots from a burner account. The screens in question depict Ojee, S9mm, and Mikeyy all allegedly using racist remarks across a wide stretch of time. According to Viewer, the screens were found by french Overwatch World Cup players after Ojee allegedly left his computer open last year.
Viewer goes on to confirm the validity of the posts, saying he spoke to french players that confirmed the remarks. They also showed screens of their own discussion with s9mm, asking the player if said screens were real. According to Viewer, “s9mm was 100 percent truthful and honest about what he had done. He stated that he said it while quoting someone else he had met earlier in the day, and that he was deeply regretful that he said such a thing.”
However, the number of days of and timeframe of the alleged comments seems to blow up s9mm’s excuse of “repeating back something heard one time.” As of this writing, s9mm’s Twitter account is still active but has not responded to the allegations or his release. Meanwhile, the Twitter accounts of Ojee and Mikeyy are long gone.
OWCS roster implosion
In response to the announcement from M80 Overwatch, a number of other teams are now scrambling to either grab players or fill roles. This includes YFP Overwatch losing enough players to no longer be eligible for competition.
With M90 Overwatch gone, where does that leave s9mm, Ojee and Mikeyy? As of this writing, s9mm is still a member of Winthrop University’s Overwatch team. Winthrop is a public university in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
Stay tuned to esports.gg for esports news and OWCS information.
