WhileCall of DutyChallengers has moved to a purely online spectacle,much like itsCall of Dutyleague counterpart, there seems to be plenty of real-world drama surrounding the competition. It seems that Christopher ‘Parasite’ Duarte, a player who has struggled to find a home since winning theBlack Ops IIWorld Championship seven years ago has gone behind the back of a teammate and caused a fair amount of drama.
TheCall of DutyLeague is a hugely profitable side of the game franchiseand it incorporates the shooting mechanics of the game on a professional stage. Safe to say there is plenty of in-game drama, but it is pretty rare for a public drama to occur. Apparently Christopher ‘Parasite’ Duarte was messaging his CDC teammate, Alex ‘Zaptius’ Bonilla’s girlfriend in an inappropriate way and it has ended in the two gamers severing ties.
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In a now-deleted tweet by Zaptius, the gamer called out Parasite for messaging his girlfriend and trying to form a relationship with her during the Chicago HuntsmenCall of DutyChallenger $7,500 Open on April 26. Parasite was dropped from the roster as a result and his later tweets confirmed that he is once again a free agent and regretted his actions. Since these initial tweets, Zaptius has explained the situation further claiming that Parasite was messaging his girlfriend the night before a tournament and that he had repeatedly tried to get in touch with her. Apparently the situation became worse when Zaptius encouraged her to respond and this has drawn some criticism from fans who claim that Zaptius should have discussed the matter immediately rather than trying to collect evidence.
The situation is now resolved although there seems to be ongoing bad blood which is evidenced by the last tweet from Zaptius. TheChallengers series offers a lane to stardomand it seems that Parasite has missed an opportunity. The professional gamer has since repeatedly expressed his regret and his hope of moving forward as a player. While Parasite clearly has the skills to succeed his reputation may be damaged and teams may not be keen to work with him after this.
The Call of Duty League has an increasingly large fan base and as a result,the financial incentives for reaching the top level are high. Unfortunately, for Parasite it seems that actions outside of the game have temporarily held them back and it may take a bit of work to win back fans and potential teammates.
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