Despite the pandemic and the cancellation of some high-tiered tournaments by Valve, the Dota 2 esports scene continues to be vibrant. This was mainly due to the strong support from the community composed of players, fans, and different organizers. However, it appears that behind the scenes there have been a lot of things going wrong. There have been allegations of sexual misconduct and other offenses, which has resulted in two high profile Dota 2 personalities making the choice to leave the esports scene. These two are none other than Toby “TobiWan” Dawson and Paul “Redeye” Chaloner.
Walking away from the scene
To say that Redeye has contributed a lot is to understate things. He started his career all the way back in 2002 and officially made his Dota 2 debut sometime in 2014. Redeye was responsible for and fought hard on what is now the standard spelling of the industry, which is either Esports or esports.
In late June, CS:GO personality James Banks alleged that Redeye was guilty of abuse of power and was verbally and physically abusing other talents in the industry. In a post on Twitter, Redeye denied the allegation and said that he was consulting with legal representation before making any additional comments.
Banks then revealed information from a court case where Redeye was on trial for child abuse and assault. By this time, Redeye revealed that he had reached the end of his rope. In a new tweet, Redeye said that while he was “able to cope with all the shit being thrown at me”, that all changed when children were dragged into the issue.
As a result, Redeye reveled that not only will he be “no longer hosting esports events,” but also that he won’t be “continuing a public life within esports.” He thanked all the fans that supported him and remains “truly grateful for everything and proud to have been there to watch the industry grow and share the last 18 years of my life with you.”
Never again in Dota 2
Earlier in the week, allegations of harassment and misconduct were raised against TobiWan. In a now deleted tweet, TobiWan replied to the allegations saying that he had “committed some horrible actions in the past” and that he wants “to atone for them.” However, that wasn’t enough and more allegations came to light. This eventually made TobiWan post that while he did act inappropriately, he denied making unwanted and forceful sexual advances.
This has since led to actions that have not been good for TobiWan in general. For one, Beyond the Summit announced that they would no longer be working with the caster. As if that wasn’t enough, Valve released an update to the TI 10 Battle Pass which removed TobiWan’s voice lines.
It wasn’t a surprise then that he took the same route as Redeye. Just last week, TobiWan changed his Twitter handle to Inactive. He also posted on Twitter that he maintains that he is not guilty of any criminal offence. He also said that if his actions offended anyone, he was “very sorry for that and it was not my intention.” TobiWan went on to say that he is going to “cease to have any public image in esports” and “will never commentate again”. He plans to now focus on his family and find a way to move on with life.
