Evo Online canceled, MrWiz ousted after sexual misconduct claims

Steven Rondina Published 03/07/2020

Evo Online has been officially cancelled.

Less than 24 hours after Evo co-founder and CEO Joey “MrWiz” Cuellar was accused of sexual misconduct, the largest fighting game tournament announced an end to its 2020 event. The company also announced the departure of Cuellar in a statement released on Twitter.

“Effective immediately, Joey Cuellar will no longer be involved with Evo in any capacity. We are currently working towards his complete separation from the company and have relieved him of all his responsibilities. Going forward, Tony Cannon will act as CEO. In this position, he will take a leadership role in prioritizing greater accountability across Evo,” the company said in a statement.

Earlier in the day, Cuellar was accused of having propositioned minors to undress in the 1990s. An individual alleged in a post on Twitter that when he was 14 years old, he had made a bet with Cuellar regarding the size of his penis. Another individual within their circle of friends later commented that Cuellar had effectively tricked him in order to see his genitals.

This came alongside a slew of sexual misconduct allegations across the entire gaming industry, with esports and the fighting game community in particular seeing a large volume of related claims.

Evo Online done as MrWizard ousted, Capcom withdraws

As a result of the change in leadership, Evo Online will be cancelled. The event was originally announced as an online replacement to the annual fighting game tournament traditionally held in Las Vegas. 

Following the allegations levelled against Cuellar, numerous individuals attached to the event announced their withdrawals pending the company’s response. This included a long list of high profile names including commentator Steven “Tasty Steve” Scott and five-time Evo champion Dominique “SonicFox” McLean. 

Things went from bad to worse for Evo when numerous game publishers stated that they would decline to support Evo as well. Foremost among the lot was Street Fighter publisher Capcom, who seemingly nixed the planned Street Fighter V tournament that would have served as Evo’s main event. This would have marked Evo Online as the first tournament in Evo history to not include a Capcom title had the event gone forward.

With Evo Online’s cancellation, it is unclear what the future holds for the company and when their next event may occur.

Steven Rondina

About Steven Rondina

Steven Rondina is a true lifelong gamer. His earliest memories are of playing video games, and he has continued playing them throughout his life with no plans to stop any time soon. Steven’s favorite franchises in gaming include Pokemon, Dark Souls, and Counter-Strike. He has previously published with Bleacher Report and other gaming outlets.

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