Turns Out 6-Year-Old RowdyRogan's Warzone Ban Was A Hoax
Well, consider us Punk'd. Call of Duty fans are left red-faced when they were tricked into thinking 6-year-old streamer RowdyRogan had been banned from Warzone. Putting most of us to shame, the up-and-coming gamer could be the next Mason "Symfuhny" Lanier or Jordan "HusKerrs" Thomas, RowdyRogan has also been welcomed to FaZe Clan as an honorary member. When it comes to his "ban", it turns out it was all linked to FaZe's frat-inspired initiation.
In the original clip, Rogan and his dad are seen logging into Warzone like they always do. Instead of dropping into Verdansk, they were met with a message saying the young shooter had been permanently banned. Cue scenes of Rogan's understandably angry father and plenty of tears from the little guy. Seriously, someone should get Rogan an Academy Award because that was some Oscar-worthy crocodile tears.
Rowdy Rogan Warzone ban hoax: What was it really?
Posting on RowdyRogan's YouTube channel, a video titled "Top 20 RowdyRogan gets BANNED from Warzone (I'm Sorry)" explains how it was an elaborate hoax as part of the FaZe Top 20. Here, the famous house of gaming tasks gamers with going viral. In Rogan's video, he's chatting with his mum about how he could go viral and says, "I'm thinking banned". Rogan also nodded when his mum asked, "What, like FaZe Jarvis?". One of FaZe's most famous scandals was Jarvis Khattri being banned from Fortnite. Earlier this year, Jarvis pulled his own stunt when he pretended to stream Epic Games' battle royale once again.
According to Rogan's parents, he's a huge fan of Khattri, which is what spurred him into action. The apple clearly doesn't fall far from the Jarvis tree when it comes to Rogan's hopes of being initiated into FaZe. The last part of the Top 20 is to make a video go viral - which RowdyRogan did with gusto. Even we were hoodwinked into thinking this one is real.
Talking about Rogan's new-found success, his dad thanked fans and said, "These last 24 hours have been absolutely crazy. First off, the support from the community has been nothing short of amazing. When we hit that tweet button to send that tweet out, I had no idea what to expect...As you guys know, Rogan is six years old and it's been Rogan's dream to make FaZe".
RowdyRogan Warzone ban hox: What's next?
It's great news for Rogan that he's blown the FaZe boys away with ingenuity, but let's remember, karma can work in mysterious ways. When Rogan was "banned", most pointed to the fact his age seems to break Activsion's Terms of Use, which clearly state, "Subject to any applicable Product age ratings, restrictions and Account requirements, Products are made available to individuals aged 13 or older". Twitch also has similar Terms of Service, meaning Rogan is actually too young to play Warzone or create content for Twitch.
Still, the #FreeRogan campaign was something pretty impressive. Even at the age of six, Rogan is fooling the world. If he doesn't get initiated to FaZe now, we'd be very surprised. That again, has the latest incident has simply drawn attention to his young age and potential breaking of the rules? Will Activision and Twitch allow him to slip through the net due to his prominence in the CoD scene, or will RowdyRogan be made an example of? Watch this space.
Stay up to date with all the latest esports and gaming news by checking out our social channels here: Twitter | Facebook | Discord
Images via Activision | Twitch
