All things considered, for an esports team sponsored by the Youtube of porn, Team YP kept it moderately classy. Their uniforms were a tasteful combination of grey and pink; their logo was about as subtle a reference to phalluses as one could expect, a sword embedded in a mountain range. When the vice president of YouPorn, their sponsor, spoke about them, it was just plain PR talk, devoid of even the most buried euphemisms. But all that didn’t stop ESL from handing out a ban to the young organization last year, citing too many complications with a team tied to adult entertainment playing in their league.
Riot felt similarly; when Team YP picked up a female League of Legends roster, Riot promptly barred them from competing in any official events. Now, YP is trying their luck one more time, and have announced an official Overwatch roster, which will be competing on February 25th and 26th in the Montpellier Esports Show.
There is a certain kind of poetry here. Team YP’s return to esports focuses on the very game the internet’s most horny for: it seems like only yesterday that Pornhub awarded Overwatch the dubious honor of most searched-for videogame on their website. Still, it’s hard to imagine Team YP’s Overwatch roster lasting much longer than its other esports ventures.
Blizzard has taken steps in the past to stop Source filmmakers from making raunchy videos using their character models, including issuing cease and desists. Clearly, they’re not happy that such a large slice of the internet has developed a hard-on for the cast of Overwatch. Unfortunately for Team YP, odds are good the developers won’t want a porn-backed esports team playing their game on any stage they have control over.
