The international esports team Dignitas, headquartered in Great Britain, is a well-known and respected organization in the professional gaming world. Typically it participates in games likeLeague of Legends,Rocket League, andCounter-Strike: Global Offensive, although it was recently announced it would not be competing inCounter-Strikefor the “foreseeable future.”
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Dignitas' Tweet Goes Viral
The controversy began with a response to another Twitter user as Dignitas' commented “mobile gaming is not gaming.” The Tweet went viral, and the number of comments compared to the likes and retweets began spelling out a different opinion from the community.
The Internet dispute caught the attention of YouTuber iFerg, who is known for both hisFortnitegameplay and asa professionalCall of Duty: Mobileplayerwith three Battle Royale Worlds tournaments under his belt. He said, “I have won more tournaments in the last 5 years than your entire organization combined. The most relevant thing that has happened to you this decade has been this ratio.”
A different player called Sonho, who is renowned for hisachievements inApex Legends Mobile, also saw the Tweet and responded, “I can’t remember asking + mobile gamers are real gamers + the easiest relationship of my life that I’ll remember for decades to come.” Dignitas quickly removed the Tweet after more professionals, fans, and others started to take notice, then followed it up with a clown meme template that was edited to make fun of the decision to comment on social media in the first place.
The controversy of whether mobile gaming is equal to console or PC gaming is certainly not new, but in recent years more people have begun to validate the platform, especially as game developers are curating more apps for mobile devices. Big name titles such asFortnitelaunched on mobile in 2018,Genshin Impactin 2020, and Mojang’sMinecraftin 2011 have all made their way to millions of phone and tablet screens.
It is also interesting that Dignitas would make such a comment seeing as one of the most popular games it competes in isLeague of Legends, shortly after Riot Games cateredthe spin-off PvP titleLeague of Legends: Wild Rifttoward mobile gamers. Mobile gaming does make up a large percentage of the gaming industry, and is expected to exceed $200 billion in 2022, according to a report by Newzoo earlier this year.
For many, mobile gaming is more convenient because of its portability, and ease of access compared to other devices. Whether a person considers mobile gaming to be “real” gaming or not, making the remark that Dignitas did in a public forum was always going to ruffle some feathers. That said, it seems most people found Dignitas' controversial Tweet to be amusing, taking the opportunity to scroll through the comments “ratio-ing” the esports team. Now that Dignitas has acknowledged the Tweet was a mistake, the esports organization will be able to return to churning out more highlights ofcompetitiveValorantgameplayand training for upcoming tournaments.
