Overwatch is set to offer refunds to players who purchased the Alien Zarya skin following sexual assault allegations leveled at Jay “Sinatraa” Won, the player it was intended to commemorate.
The former Overwatch League pro has been accused of sexual assault and abuse by his ex-girlfriend Cleo Hernandez, who made several allegations against the esports player in a detailed document posted to Twitter. This included an audio recording that allegedly shows Sinatraa refusing to stop having sex with Hernandez after she asks him to do so.
Why is Sinatraa’s Overwatch Alien skin being refunded?
Hernandez’s accusations include Sinatraa refusing to wear a condom without her consent, continuing to have sex with her after she had said no, and tracking her location before sending her messages accusing her of cheating on him. Text messages of her sending her Lyft information to him in order to clarify her location are includes in the document.
https://twitter.com/cIe0h/status/1369497186740928512
In the wake of these allegations, the Overwatch League has released a statement saying that a refund of 200 League Tokens will be offered to players who wish to remove the commemorative Alien skin from their collection. OWL notes that it will also remove the Overwatch League Championship and MVP badges from the Alien skin in a future patch, further distancing the organization from its former player.
— Overwatch Esports (@OW_Esports) March 11, 2021
The Alien Zarya skin was added to Overwatch in 2020, the same year that Sinatraa switched from the Blizzard FPS to Riot Games’ Valorant. Since the allegations against the player emerged, Riot has suspended him from competing in the Valorant Champions Tour North America Masters One event. He has also been suspended by Sentinels, the LA-based esports organization that represents him.
Sinatraa has released his own statement refuting some of Hernandez’s accusations, saying that he denies any sexual assault had taken place, though agrees that their relationship was unhealthy.
“It is clear from Cleo’s recent post that she recalls our relationship differently than I do,” Sinatraa wrote in a Twitlonger post. “What we do agree on is that it was unhealthy for the both of us. I apologize to Cleo and regret how things ended, but I never assaulted her in any way. I am fully cooperating with the investigations and providing the full audio and video clips Cleo referenced in her post.”
In other Overwatch news, the game recently received its 3.07 update adding its PachiMarchi challenge. Players have also been wondering if the PS5 version of the game will run at a higher framerate.
