G2 Valorant slammed as social media team takes shot at Sentinels with morbid ‘joke’
Colin Young-Wolff/Riot GamesG2 Esports’ social media team has been slammed by VCT fans after they took shots at Sentinels with a morbid ‘joke’.
As the last week of VCT Americas Stage 1’s regular season wrapped up, it saw G2 knock Sentinels out of playoff and Masters Shanghai contention, as G2 won enough rounds against LOUD to secure a spot in the playoffs, despite losing the series.
Amid the reactions on social media, G2’s Valorant team also reacted, however, their morbid joke has been widely criticized by VCT fans and community figures.
Posted after they secured their place in the playoffs, G2 shared a picture of an emoji pointing a G2 Classic gun in its mouth with the caption, “SEN fans rn”.
Reactions to G2’s ‘joke’ have been scathing. “How a suicide joke on mental health awareness month got approved by an entire social media team/company is beyond me”, said Nicholas ‘Yehty’ Tesolin, an observer for VCT Americas.
“You know one day esports social media will realize maybe it’s not okay to joke about self-harm when a team loses,” said FlyQuest’s social media manager on G2’s tweet. “Lobotomized at birth with this post, thoughts?” Brennon “Bren’ Hook replied to the tweet.
Several other also players pointed out that it hasn’t been a year since Valorant pro Karel ‘Twisten’ Ašenbrener died by suicide.
The next day, G2’s social media specialist Josh McClements responded to the Valorant community’s criticism of the original post. He said what was posted is no different than what Sentinels would put up on their social media, and yet G2 is receiving criticism.
One commenter told McClements that he shouldn’t try to justify the post by pointing to competitors.
“It’s more directed at the outcry G2 gets vs other teams, not justifying the post and I see why people are upset about it. If this is bad, then surely there should be an outcry about other orgs doing this but there isn’t, people love to hate G2,” McClements said in response.
The post is still up on G2 Valorant’s account. Dexerto has reached out to the organization for comment.
If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts, or know anyone that is, and you would like to talk to someone, please reach out and call the Suicide Prevention Helpline 1-800-273-8255 (USA), the Samaritans 116-123 (UK), or Lifeline 13-11-14 (AUS).
