Envy Gaming vows to act after Dallas Fuel’s ‘Fearless’ speaks out on racism he and his teammates experienced in Dallas

Envy Gaming management is taking action after Dallas Fuel player Lee “Fearless” Eui-Seok spoke this week about the racism he and his Korean teammates said he faced in Dallas.

Mike Rufail, the organization’s founder and director of games, said Envy was looking to beef up security and called on others to stand up to racism when they saw him.

Rufail doesn’t often make political statements. He said so himself in the five-minute video he posted on Tuesday, saying he generally sticks to gaming and esports. But that was something he had to acknowledge after Lee’s Sunday clip, which was later translated from Korean to English, discussed the hate the Fuel received “pretty much every day.”

“Being Asian here is terrifying,” Lee said, as Florida Mayhem manager Jade “swingclip” Kim translated. “Seriously. People keep trying to fight with us.”

The video is from Lee’s Twitch stream on Sunday and was then posted on Twitter. Kim’s translation brought more English-speaking members of the Overwatch League community into the conversation.

Reports of hate crimes against Asians in the United States have been on the rise since the start of the pandemic, per The New York Times, and on March 16, eight people were killed in Atlanta-area spas, including six Asians.

Rufail wanted Envy’s executives to know about the incidents with Lee and the Fuel sooner so they could possibly pursue the action, but he was happy with Lee’s response in his video.

“I wish he’d told us as soon as this happened, so maybe there were things we could do to find out who these people were and maybe there were things we could do. has things we could have done earlier, ”said Rufail. “But at the same time, I told Fearless that he can always say what he thinks and that he can always be open publicly about his experiences.

Rufail acknowledged that he and Envy can’t control what other people are doing, but they’re always looking for ways to increase security. Envy CEO Adam Rymer said on Twitter that the organization was working on options.

“We discussed adding security, personal security. We have already discussed security in our building, which when they can, will try to make sure players are safe when they are outside and around the building, ”said Rufail. “I think it will evolve a bit over time. We are always discussing what we can do to make them feel safe. “

In translations of Lee’s chat, he mentioned that it happened to him and his teammates on a daily basis, and that they were concerned about the lack of masks. People were even coughing on it and shouting racist slurs.

Being a part of Dallas Fuel has helped Lee and his seven Korean teammates and three Korean coaches.

“That’s why I sometimes wear my jersey on purpose,” Lee said. “If I have my jersey, I think they realize that we are part of some kind of team, so they don’t bother us as much. But if I wear my everyday clothes, they run towards us, harass us, and then run away.

Rufail said the Fuel players were doing well and that Fearless himself had been “caught off guard” by Envy’s response and concern. For now, his team are focused on making their Overwatch League debut against the Houston Outlaws on April 16.

Rufail, who has said he himself has been the victim of racist remarks in esports during his decades-long career which started as a player, wants his players to feel safe.

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