Overwatch pro opens up about enduring racist abuse in the US: 'Being Asian here is terrifying'

Fearless when he was in the Shanghai Dragons
(Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment)

Hate crimes targeting Asian communities and people of Asian descent have become more common in the US over the past year, fueled in part by racist rhetoric that falsely blames China and Chinese people for the coronavirus pandemic.

This week, a South Korean Overwatch League pro has opened up about the racism he and his teammates have endured since relocating to Texas a few months ago. Dallas Fuel main tank Lee "Fearless" Eui-seok took to Twitch to discuss his experience living and training in Dallas in the middle of the pandemic, as a native South Korean.

"Being Asian here is terrifying, seriously," Lee said in the clip, which has been translated by Florida Mayhem manager Jade Kim. "People keep trying to pick fights with us… It's really serious. I think Koreans living overseas should be careful."

Lee also described how he and his teammates have been subjected to strangers approaching them, often without masks, who "pretend to fucking cough" on them, being called "fucking Chinese" along with other harassment.

"The racism here is unspeakable," Lee continued. "People keep harassing us. It's been happening basically every day. It's my first time ever experiencing racism, it's pretty severe." Lee, who is 22, also said that he's begun regularly wearing his Dallas Fuel team uniform as it appears to alleviate the abuse he receives: "If I have my jersey on, I think they realise we're part of some kind of team, so they don't bother us as much. But if I have my everyday clothes on, they run up to us, harass us then run away."

Dallas Fuel owner Mike Rufail tweeted out a video response to Lee's clip. "I am deeply saddened by the situations some of our Dallas Fuel players have been put in while walking the streets here in Dallas, TX," Rufail captioned the tweet.

"The players that we have are already near and dear to my heart, even though we've only had the roster for a few months," Rufail continued in his video. "We're doing everything we can to make our players feel comfortable; our players are our family."

Dallas Fuel assistant manager Helen "Dear" Jang also echoed Rufail's statement, saying that "the players' safety is our top priority since day one… We cannot control how others behave, but there will be a solution to ensure that the players are protected."

Blizzard, who operates Overwatch League, provided this statement to Polygon: "At Activision Blizzard, we condemn racism in the strongest possible terms. We stand with the Asian community, our employees, and our players and are working across our organization, including esports, to do our part to combat hate and ignorance."

Lee's story comes amid a wave of anti-Asian violence in the US. The New York Times reports "more than 110 episodes since March 2020 in which there was clear evidence of race-based hate." In Chicago this month, a Chinese-American man out jogging was "spit at by two women who threw a log at him," according to the Times, who told him to "go back to China." In Texas, a 19-year-old stabbed two children, ages 2 and 6, and an older family member in a Sam's Club grocery store, attacking because he believed they were “Chinese and infecting people with the coronavirus,” according to an FBI report.

Amid this crisis, a number of resources have emerged to help people educate themselves on how to end racist violence and support victims. Here are just a few:

Mollie Taylor
Features Producer

Mollie spent her early childhood deeply invested in games like Killer Instinct, Toontown and Audition Online, which continue to form the pillars of her personality today. She joined PC Gamer in 2020 as a news writer and now lends her expertise to write a wealth of features, guides and reviews with a dash of chaos. She can often be found causing mischief in Final Fantasy 14, using those experiences to write neat things about her favourite MMO. When she's not staring at her bunny girl she can be found sweating out rhythm games, pretending to be good at fighting games or spending far too much money at her local arcade.  

Read more
The streamer Emiru gives the peace sign to camera.
Three women livestreaming on Twitch harassed by man who then goes for them while making repeated death threats: 'This happens off-camera to women all the time'
assassin's creed shadows review
Assassin's Creed Shadows streamer goes viral after confronting whining commenters: 'Normal people don't get upset about this sh***'
Tasmanian Devil
Multiversus director addresses fans angered by its upcoming closure: 'You're entitled to what you say and think, but when there are threats to harm it's crossing the line'
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth PC
Square Enix launches new anti-harassment policy to protect its employees and partners from abusive fans
Firefighters in front of a burning structure during the 2025 Palisades Fire in LA County.
Deadly LA fires lead to office closures for major game studios: 'Nothing can be said to truly acknowledge the pain and suffering that we are witnessing,' says Riot CEO
Assassin's Creed Shadows promo image
Ubisoft reportedly has an anti-harassment plan in place for Assassin's Creed Shadows developers
Latest in FPS
Starfield's companion robot giving a thumbs-up
Former Bethesda dev who quit Starfield to go solo says it's 'much less stressful as an indie' without daily meetings or 'office politics': it's 'very refreshing to just care about the game'
A crew of prospectors in Wildgate, featuring a robot, a rabbit man, and a small aquatic creature in a combination mech/aquarium.
Blizzard co-founder Mike Morhaime's new company is putting Sea of Thieves-style shenanigans in space with a new crew-based shooter
Team Fortress Spy being shocked
An FPS studio pulled its game from Steam after it got caught linking to malware disguised as a demo, but the dev insists it was actually the victim of a labyrinthine conspiracy
Neighbors Suburban Warfare screenshot a child aims a slingshot at a man from across a cul-de-sac.
A beta of backyard FPS Neighbors: Suburban Warfare is out now, and the balance discussion is hysterical: nerf trash can lids and children
Fragpunk
Somebody finally figured out casual Counter-Strike
Image for
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide’s getting a new roguelite wave defense mode that sounds a whole lot like a souped-up take on Killing Floor
Latest in News
Assassin's Creed Shadows promo image
Ubisoft scores a legendary ratio against Elon Musk on his own platform—which hopefully marks a final end to all the Assassin's Creed Shadows' culture war nonsense
Tzarina Katarin Bokha, the Ice Queen of Kislev
Total War: Warhammer 3 rolls out a cool Kislev overhaul, changes befitting Tzeench’s magic, new projectile units and creakier skeletal horses
An image of a golden first place award from Geoguessr
'We're actually getting GeoGuessr on Steam before GTA 6': the Google Street View puzzler arrives on Valve's platform this April
Napster client circa 1999
Former music-pirating platform Napster to be reborn rather ironically as a metaverse for musicians to connect with their fans after $207 million deal
The snazzy red and black HyperX Cloud Alpha wireless headphones float in a teal void. The microphone is attached to the headset.
The best wireless gaming headset is now even better in the Amazon Big Spring Sale, boasting a more than $50 discount
A chip being held up in an Intel fab
Intel is reportedly 'working to finalize commitments from Nvidia' as a foundry partner, suggesting gaming potential for the 18A node