It’s not especially odd to see competitors disqualified from gaming tournaments for one reason or another. But for Titaniumtigerzz, who took part in the Mortal Kombat 11 Pro Kompetition on January 16th, the reasoning is quite odd. According to the player, he was reportedly disqualified for criticizing developer NetherRealm Studios.
During his match, the feed suddenly cut to commentators Housam Cherif and Miguel Perez. The latter explained that, “Unfortunately, it looks like we have a little problem here, and someone is being…we got a situation. I don’t know what we can publicly say but we definitely have a situation here.” After confirming that Titaniumtigerzz’s opponent would be advancing, despite the match still technically going on, Perez said to “abide to the rules…everybody’s gotta be respectful,”
Apparently, the source of the criticism was a move-set variation for Sheeva named as “WhyDidNRSdoThis.” Titaniumtigerzz explained to Kotaku, “It was meant to be funny since the character I was using is basically extremely easy. The joke was, ‘Why would they make such an easy character?’” He was only informed about the disqualification once the match was over. No official reason was given but a tournament moderator reportedly told him that it was the variation’s name.
“They banned me in the very first match where I used the name. No opportunity [to change the name] was given and no one reached out to me. I’d have changed it instantly if I had been given the option.” Neither Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment nor NetherRealm Studios have offered an official statement on the same. Titaniumtigerzz is still set on playing in upcoming tournaments despite such setbacks.
Meanwhile, Twitter users have taken to criticizing the developer with the hashtag #WhyDidNRSDoThis. Stay tuned for more details in the coming days.
