Dafran was in the news recently as a rage-fueled outburst in a Valorant tourney saw him banned from the esport organization, Solary, for life, and from Twitch for seven days. This all came to a head around May 20; on June 2 Dafran published a TwitLonger stating that he was stepping back from streaming and will now pursue an education.
It isn’t the end for Dafran fans, as Daniel Francesca has stated that he may stream occasionally in the future, although nowhere near the amount that he has in the past.
He wants to pursue agriculture, leaving many of his fans supporting a bastardized version of his mantra with ‘Let’s grow, dude!’ instead of ‘Let’s go, dude’.
Citing that he has already spent a third of his life in front of a PC, he wants to pursue something new that will ‘make him happy.’
Rumors abound that the negative press Dafran received due to his outburst, along with a lifetime and temporary ban, are the actual driving forces behind this sudden announcement that seemingly came out of the blue.
It’s difficult to condemn the decision, however; esports and gaming, in general, are known to have bouts of toxicity coming from all sides, and many professionals have stated in the past that it is that constant pressure and edging of toxicity that leads to headline-generating news when one inevitably snaps.
Still, it’s no excuse for the actions of Dafran in recent history and this is arguably better for the majority of the public, rather than another idolized streamer making toxicity more acceptable for the masses. Friefing and bouts of rage aren’t necessarily new to the former pro, either; he was suspended from Overwatch in June of 2017 by Blizzard due to intentionally throwing games and griefing teammates, which saw him benched for Selfless Gaming prior to getting picked up in 2018 by the Atlanta Reign for Overwatch League.
What’s astonishing is that this move by Mr. Francesca is leaving a sizeable heft of money on the table; he’s one of the more popular streamers on Twitch, as reported by Social Blade: 324th based on followers alone.
Further, both his followers and channel views were currently on the uptick in May, with almost a full million channel views in the most recent month. Social Blade estimates, based on current metrics, that his popularity would continue to surge in coming months. He currently holds 288,643 followers on Twitch.
Some fans are claiming that this is bait from the popular streamer, however; it’s admittedly difficult to suddenly stop streaming; doubly so considering how wildly popular the Danish player was. While this may admittedly all be bait, Francesca has not streamed since the 27th of May.
