Earlier than Felix ‘xQc’ Lengyel turned the world’s greatest streamer, he genuinely believed his profession is perhaps over earlier than it ever started.
Again in 2018, xQc was a rising Twitch creator and Overwatch expertise who joined the Dallas Gas for the Overwatch League’s inaugural season. On the time, OWL was the height of aggressive Overwatch, and breaking into the League was seen as the last word aim.
That chance didn’t final lengthy.
Simply weeks right into a turbulent first season for the league, Lengyel was suspended twice. After the second suspension, he was launched by the Dallas Gas, a choice he says got here amid strain from the League itself. Whereas the second would finally gas his rise, it initially left him satisfied he had simply torpedoed his future.
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xQc says OWL ban was “harmful” however “thrilling” for his profession
In an unique interview with Dexerto, xQc defined that Overwatch was the whole lot to him on the time. Being kicked out of the League’s brand-new ecosystem felt like dropping his credibility in a single day.
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“I didn’t know what I used to be going to do,” he advised Dexerto. “I genuinely thought I used to be achieved for. I assumed that was going to be the tip of my profession just about.”
xQc raised the T-Cell MVP award on the 2017 OW World Cup
Regardless of that concern, Lengyel mentioned he by no means begged to remain. He spoke with higher-ups and got here away with the clear sense that the league wished him gone.
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“I used to be virtually excited,” he recalled. “It’s a really bizarre self-destructive feeling that I typically will take pleasure in. I’m pressured right into a spot that’s very harmful, however it’s exhilarating.”
He likened the state of affairs to standing on the fringe of a cliff. There was nowhere else to go, but when he jumped far sufficient, he may land someplace new.
That leap got here on his very subsequent stream.
Leaving Overwatch League let xQc experiment and develop
xQc described the printed as probably the greatest of his profession, pulling huge viewership as followers tuned in to see what he would do subsequent. The controversy turned a turning level, despite the fact that he knew the spike wouldn’t final.
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“I knew that issues would fall off from that peak as a result of it’s an enormous ban second, proper? Everyone desires to see what he’s going to do subsequent. I knew that I used to be at a crossroad the place that huge stream that I simply did goes to be who I’m now.”
Fairly than chase numbers, Lengyel targeted on grinding and rebuilding. Streaming alongside M0xyy performed a key function, giving him confidence to experiment even when the outcomes had been unsure.
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“Once I was with M0xyy, it didn’t matter if we failed. It didn’t matter if we had been doing good as a result of we’re collectively, proper? And it sounds slightly bit corny, however we had such confidence in our cohesion that we may play a recreation that no one wished to observe, and folks would need to watch.”
That interval pressured him to show he may succeed exterior of Overwatch, even when the content material wasn’t at all times polished.
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Instagram: xqcow1xQc is among the web’s prime streamers who famously took a $100M deal to broadcast on Kick in 2023.
“We wanted to indicate we will do one thing else. And that one thing else was typically full rubbish. Nevertheless it mattered to some individuals. And for those who try this factor that’s good for some individuals day-after-day, it’ll be good for lots of people to the purpose the place at one level selection is one thing that lots of people care about.”
Finally, xQc stopped worrying about viewership altogether.
“I cared about what me and him had been doing. And that seeing that imaginative and prescient by means of was very rewarding as a result of me and him ended up doing nice issues.”
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What as soon as felt like a career-ending ban finally turned the catalyst for xQc’s transformation from an Overwatch League prospect into one of many greatest streamers on the planet.
