xQc as soon as feared getting kicked out of Overwatch League “the tip of his profession”

Earlier than Felix ‘xQc’ Lengyel grew to become the world’s largest streamer, he genuinely believed his profession is likely to be 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 final 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 stress from the League itself. Whereas the second would ultimately gasoline 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 every part to him on the time. Being kicked out of the League’s brand-new ecosystem felt like shedding 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 carried out for. I assumed that was going to be the tip of my profession just about.”

Regardless of that worry, 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 needed him gone.

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“I used to be nearly 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, nevertheless 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 would possibly 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 among the finest of his profession, pulling large viewership as followers tuned in to see what he would do subsequent. The controversy grew to become a turning level, although he knew the spike wouldn’t final.

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“I knew that issues would fall off from that top as a result of it’s a giant 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 massive stream that I simply did goes to be who I’m now.”

Quite than chase numbers, Lengyel targeted on grinding and rebuilding. Streaming alongside M0xyy performed a key position, giving him confidence to experiment even when the outcomes have been unsure.

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“Once I was with M0xyy, it didn’t matter if we failed. It didn’t matter if we have been doing good as a result of we’re collectively, proper? And it sounds a bit of bit corny, however we had such confidence in our cohesion that we may play a sport that no one needed to observe, and other people 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: xqcow1

xQc is without doubt one of the web’s high streamers who famously took a $100M deal to broadcast on Kick in 2023.

“We would have liked to point out we will do one thing else. And that one thing else was typically full rubbish. Nevertheless it mattered to some folks. And in case you do this factor that’s good for some folks on daily basis, 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 have been doing. And that seeing that imaginative and prescient by 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 in the end grew to become the catalyst for xQc’s transformation from an Overwatch League prospect into one of many largest streamers on the planet.