Atlanta Reign star Dafran announces sudden OWL retirement

gabhernandez Published 28/03/2019

Overwatch League team Atlanta Reign has announced through Twitter that Daniel “Dafran” Francesca will be retiring from professional play.

This news comes as a shock to many fans, though Dafran’s start to his Overwatch League career was a shaky one. He had tweeted that he was going back to work at McDonalds and that his contract with the Reign had been voided.

This later proved to be something of a joke, and Dafran went ahead with entering into professional Overwatch. His play contributed to the Reign’s success across many victories and a Stage 1 playoff berth.

Dafran alerted his team to his intention to retire just one week prior to Stage 1 playoffs.

“With his focus set on ‘Popping off, one last time!’ Dafran truly wanted to give it his all during playoffs and didn’t desire to draw attention to himself while we were still playing,” the Reign said.

A fan favorite, Dafran was the top seller among all players in Overwatch League jersey sales. Even with his retirement, the Atlanta Reign announced that Dafran would remain within the organization. He will be staying under the team’s brand as a member of the Reign stream team.

Posting simultaneously with the Reign’s official announcement, Dafran offered his own explanation.

“I am leaving the OWL and going back to comfy streamer life,” Dafran said.

He thanked the Reign for the opportunity and declared that the life of a professional gamer was no longer his dream.

As for the future of Dafran’s streams, they will be longer, consistent, and greater in number. His many “Pepe the frog” emotes will be back on his channel, since the icon was banned due to his involvement with the Overwatch League, and his European streaming schedule will be returning. He will still stream Overwatch as his main game, and Dafran says that there’s going to be a lot of cool things coming from his now being under the Atlanta Reign umbrella.

As for the Atlanta Reign OWL team, Dafran says that they will “pop the fuck off with or without me.”

Read Also

GTA

What To Expect in the Unprecedented Netflix GTA 6 Extended Look Zachary Roberts News broke last week that the next confirmed look at GTA 6 would be on Netflix. A natural question arose: what would an extended look on Netflix even entail? Shortly after, it was confirmed by the streamer that the event would be about 20 minutes long, which is far longer than a third trailer would be. Never before has a video game been marketed through a streaming giant like this. ...

Kick

Adin Ross’ Brand Risk 15: Full Fight Card, Date, and Other Key Details Khizar Mundia Brand Risk Promotions recently announced Adin Ross’ BRP15, and now the key details have just been revealed, including the date, roster, and where the event will be livestreamed. Adin Ross is primarily known for two things: his gambling streams and his Brand Risk event. The boxing event has become a staple of Adin’s career, and he’ll be broadcasting even though he’s currently on a break. Adin Ross’ breaks have become ...

Kick

Club Introduces New Features, Allowing Normal Users To Post and More Khizar Mundia The social platform, Club, which was developed by the co-founders of Kick and Stake, has been largely creator-focused until now, but new features have been released for users to be able to interact. Club released an alternative to X communities back in April 2026 when the popular social platform decided to remove the feature from its platform. Co-founder Bijan Tehrani had tried to attract top creators before X even removed ...

News

Oddin.gg Makes Its Move Beyond Esports With the Launch of Oddin Casino Ben Boland Oddin.gg has announced the launch of Oddin Casino, a new business division that is focused on the next generation of technology-led casino entertainment and is set for release later in 2026. This announcement marks the company’s first venture beyond esports betting, with casino being seen as a major part the long-term strategy for the company. Oddin Casino’s first product will be a digital live dealer. This dealer is being built ...

Kick

Clavicular set to start multistreaming — is he leaving Kick? Khizar Mundia Looksmaxxing creator Braden “Clavicular” Peters has announced that he will start multistreaming content soon, sparking speculation about whether he’ll leave Kick. Clavicular has been one of the highest-paid Kick streamers in recent years, having previously revealed that he made $100,000 in just five days during a subathon. Other than being paid so much, Clavicular is also famous for being one of the most clipped streamers, with his clips being shared ...

News

Has a Fortnite Collaboration Revealed the Kingdom Hearts 4 Release Date? Zachary Roberts There is currently very little information in the public domain about the upcoming Kingdom Hearts 4 from Square Enix. We know the game exists, and we know it's going to be available on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC, even if there isn't even a release date yet. There's been no trailer yet, either, just a blink-and-you'll-miss-it teaser from a Nintendo Direct. But a Fortnite collaboration leak, of ...

Dota 2

LGD’s TaiLung banned from TI15, Topson to replace Michael Hassall Santiago "TaiLung" Agüero Gustavo has been banned from The International and all future PGL after reports of alleged matchfixing were unveiled by the LGD organization. Revealed by announcement on LGD’s Weibo page on Aug. 8, before being reposted on the organization’s Twitter page, Peruvian player TaiLung was removed from LGD and banned from all upcoming competition. The ban comes days before the start of The International 2026. As per LGD’s ...