A well-known and respected Fortnite caster was removed from the FNCS broadcast for an incident during the OCE finals.
Epic Games has silently removed Fortnite Battle Royale commentator Shaun “AussieAntics” Cochrane from the official FNCS broadcast. The popular content creator revealed the sad news before going live on the NA East All-Star Showdown Solo Finals. According to AussieAntics, Epic made their decision after he publicly blasted an Oceania player for purposely targeting another finalist in a position to win the tournament. Unfortunately, the developers caught wind of the controversy, particularly AussieAntics’ comments, and informed him of the removal.
AussieAntics Removed for “Targeted Hate”
Dropped from the official broadcast.
Going live in 5 minutes to explain why.
I will be doing a viewing party for NAE Solo FNCS Finals as well.
— AussieAntics (@AussieAntics) June 26, 2021
LunR, the player who fell victim to what the Fortnite scene refers to as “griefing,” is a good friend of AussieAntics, and the caster reacted live to the incident during the OCE finals. For those who missed the clip, AussieAntics watched as another player landed on LunR and eliminated him, ending his chances of winning the FNCS All-Star Showdown crown.
The caster reacted with utter frustration, calling the player a “f**king loser” and noting that he only had 17 points heading into the final match. Aussie instilled the notion that it’s challenging for Epic Games to control these situations, but players should not have the ability to ruin another’s tournament.
After the story gained steam, Epic informed AussieAntics of his removal from the official broadcast. He went live on Twitch before the official NA East broadcast began to explain the situation. While the content creator remained calm through the issue, Twitter erupted with anger.
#FreeAussie
FNCS READY, for Aussie ❤️❤️ #FreeAussie pic.twitter.com/VHn5zYShgw
— XSET Ceice (@Ceice) June 26, 2021
Aussie’s supporters came out in droves, managing to get the hashtag #FreeAussie trending on Twitter in the video games section. Professional players, including XSET Gaming’s Davis “Ceice” McClellan tweeted out the hashtag along with over two thousand others. Retired Fortnite legend — Williams “NRG Zayt” Aubin — qualified for the event and changed his in-game name to “JUSTICE4AUSSIE” in support of the ousted caster.
Epic Games did not directly address the discipline of AussieAntics, but it appears we will not see him on the broadcast for some time. It’s strikingly similar to what occurred between Epic and beloved caster Arten “Ballatw” Esa, who moved to Valorant after a falling out with Epic Games. AussieAntics will continue to stream viewing parties of all competitions for the foreseeable future.
Stay tuned for more updates on this developing story.
