Twitch streamer xQc confirms that he’s working with the platform to change his account name and disassociate himself from the Overwatch franchise.
xQc has been around long enough to have developed his own legend. It’s possible that only a small percentage of his viewers are aware that xQc got his start in League of Legends, not Overwatch. xQc switched to Blizzard’s multiplayer shooter in 2016, changing his account name from xQcLoL to xQcOW, which he has kept since. Six years later, his Twitch account is still linked to his time in the Overwatch League. However, this could change in the near future.
In a recent Twitch stream, xQc confirmed to his chat that his days as xQcOW on Twitch may be numbered. The streamer was able to contact a Twitch partnership representative named Pluto, who informed xQc that “changes” had been made behind the scenes and that a username change may now be possible. The Twitch username change has apparently been submitted after xQc gave his approval.
There are still many variables to consider in this situation. Since 2017, Twitch has let users change their usernames once every 60 days. As a result, xQc’s inability to change his username could be due to the “xQc” name being reserved, technical issues associated with extremely popular accounts, or contractual/business-related issues. These and other factors could all be preventing xQc from making a smooth transition to the new username. The end result is the same: there is no set date for when the change will take effect.
For his performance during the 2017 Overwatch World Cup, xQc won the Most Valuable Player award in Overwatch. His signing with the Dallas Fuel would result in him being suspended and fined due to homophobic and racist remarks. xQc left the Overwatch League as a result of this, though he continued to compete in the Overwatch Contenders league and internationally. xQc’s history will be forever linked to Overwatch, even without the “OW” part of his username.
Some fans have speculated that xQc’s sudden official approval to change his username is linked to the Twitch streamer’s decision to resume gambling on-stream, because xQc is such a popular streamer, and has “encouraged” the process, Blizzard may not want to be associated with gambling on Twitch. This is almost certainly untrue and is a result of xQc’s frustration with his return to gambling.
He’s still the same Twitch streamer fans have watched for years, whether he’s xQcLoL, xQcOW, or xQc. He may be playing various games, and his controversies may be linked to various events, but the rest is just xQc on Twitch.
