In December, a minor league esports team thought it had signed a fast-rising, highly ranked female player who played under the nickname of Ellie. “We found that ‘Ellie’ was a fabricated identity … created by a veteran player to obfuscate their identity,” an Overwatch League spokesperson said. In the Contenders league, as is common in competitive gaming leagues aside from the elite tiers, teams play remotely and communicate via chat apps, like Discord. Even after the online community began questioning Ellie’s identity and abilities, Second Wind management and players didn’t share those suspicions. We wanted a player, but it seemed like the public wanted something else.”Dakota Berard, 21, a former Second Wind player, saw the developments as somewhat predictable, owing to the anonymity element.

Source: Washington Post January 06, 2019 16:50 UTC