Sinatraa Suspended by Riot for 6 Months, Flashpoint Forces CS:GO Rematch, Twitch Local Pricing
The largest Valorant pro to switch over from Overwatch is officially suspended for six months for failure to cooperate with Riot after allegations from his ex that he sexually assaulted her. Plus, a CS:GO match is forced to be replayed after one team pressures Flashpoint into giving Ninjas in Pyjamas another shot at taking down a team that has already officially beat them. And, Twitch changes subscription prices according to the standard of living in different countries.
Sinatraa Suspended for Six Months for Failure to Cooperate with Riot After Sexual Assault Allegations
After hinting recently that he is just waiting for “everything to finally end”, it seems like Sinatraa and his return to Valorant will have to wait, at least for another six months minimum. On Monday, Riot officially announced sanctions against Sinatraa, the former Sentinels star, after he “failed to cooperate” with Riot and failing to provide evidence that Riot requested from him. Shortly after Riot announced their findings, Sinatraa responded on Twitter and released a statement that may hold some clues as to what went on during the preliminary investigation.
Ninjas in Pyjamas Force Rematch; Flashpoint Under Fire From Other Pros for Folding to Pressure
Ninjas in Pyjamas were looking for their first win in the first match they were participating in since the blockbuster signing of Dev1ce and the first team he would be competing for after leaving his former team of Astralis. But instead of a win, NiP instead encountered laggy servers, tons of packet loss, and an overall just really not fun time while they took on Anonymo. And while they eventually fell in overtime, most people assumed that it would be a rough start but NiP would move forward and look to win next time.
But that’s not what happened, and what did eventually transpire actually ended up making plenty of people even angrier than the NiP players probably felt after losing the first match. Flashpoint, the tournament organizer that the teams were competing for, is now forcing both teams to replay the match, something that absolutely should make people question the integrity of the tournament overall and wonder what kind of precedent this sets. Never has esports seen something similar where a series was played, it ended, and then was completely replayed by the two teams to try and determine what the new end score will be.
Twitch Changes Prices of Subscriptions on Platform With Local Pricing
Twitch has revealed some huge new changes coming to the cost of subscriptions around the globe to better reflect the cost of living in those countries while still giving viewers a chance to support their favorite creators. On Monday, Twitch announced that they would be changing the subscription price that viewers would be paying for their favorite streamers with something they are calling “Local Subscription Pricing.” Starting on May 20th, people will pay different amounts for a subscription to a streamer based on where they live, and what the cost of living is relative to their local areas. This seems to stem from data that Twitch has that shows that viewers from Europe or Asia who subscribe to a streamer are around 50% less relative to North America, and if you look at the numbers from Latin America, it’s almost 80% lower.
Photo courtesy of Riot Games