xQc Banned From Twitch -- Again -- After Cheating At 'Fall Guys'

YouTube | xQcOW

Felix "xQc" Lengyel, certainly no stranger to controversies, received yet another platform ban on Wednesday as Twitch temporarily suspended the Canadian's account and Twitch Rivals handed him a six-month ban from its tournaments. What's more, the 24-year-old will also forfeit all prize money from the event.

According to Dot Esports, this marks at least the fourth time Twitch booted xQc from the platform; the other three stemmed from viewing sexually explicit videos -- including one showing gorillas.

So what did he do this time?

According to Twitch Rivals, xQc "stream sniped" an opponent during an online "Fall Guys" tournament at GlitchCon -- a practice of watching an opponent's stream in an effort to learn about the opponent's style and gain an upper hand when playing them.

Citing Section 7 of its rules, Twitch Rivals said xQc violated its policy of "Cheating of any sort through any means."

On Saturday, xQc admitted to the wrongdoing and apologized. But what he did Wednesday made even bigger waves.

"What I did had no impact on the outcome but it was wrong," xQc tweeted Wednesday. "(Sorry) again, I wasn't trying to cheat out of malice I was just trying to entertain. 7 days suspension for now. Ride like lightning, crash like thunder. Go (again). PS: Give my winning to charity and (I'll) match it."

While the seven days may not seem particularly long, xQc's history of controversies and suspensions stemming from competitive play is not -- his tenure in the Overwatch League being particularly tumultuous.

While playing for the Dallas Fuel of the OWL in January 2018, xQc received a four-game ban -- later extended to the remainder of Stage 1 -- for directing a homophobic comment at an openly gay opponent. Two months later, he received another suspension for a series of violations, including using "racially disparaging" emotes. Those two incidents also cost him more than $5,000 in fines and ultimately led to his departure from the Fuel.

But his popularity seemingly remains unscathed.

Toxic behavior and disparaging opposing players is somewhat of a calling card of xQc, with Blizzard handing down multiple suspensions since 2017, as well. That includes a 15-day ban in August 2018.

But according to StreamElements, xQc was the most-watched streamer on Twitch in October, making him the first streamer this year to land at No. 1 for four straight months.

There is yet no word on any plans for xQc during the six-month Twitch Rivals ban.