Capcom indefinitely bans controversial player Infiltration

Fighting game developer Capcom have announced an indefinite ban for Street Fighter player Lee “Infiltration” Seon-woo, who was once ranked as high as eleventh in the world.

Infiltration has been mired in controversy for many years, and the ban by Capcom comes after two major fighting game tournaments also banned the player. However, Infiltration and his supporters claim to have been left without an official explanation from Capcom or other sources about why the most recent ban occurred.

Capcom and others ban Infiltration

Infiltration first rose to prominence in the Fighting Game scene in the early 2010s, winning tournaments across Street Fighter x Tekken, Street Fighter IV, and Street Fighter V.  By 2018, he was ranked in the top-20 in the world, and in the top-10 by some aggregate rankings. He was also signed with Panda, then Panda Global, one of the scene’s foremost orgs. However, he would withdraw from the 2018 Capcom Pro Tour after domestic violence allegations emerged about the player. During the course of the investigation into the allegations, Panda chose to sideline, and eventually release, Infiltration.

Infiltration returned to professional play in 2019 and was active until May 2022, when he was banned from Combo Breaker and EVO 2022, two of the biggest fighting game tournaments in the world.

Infiltration vowed to fight the bans. However, on June 4, Capcom also handed down a ban to Infiltration, as well as another player. Then bans were unrelated but announced together.

 

While some in the fighting game community have rallied around Infiltration, the bans likely stem from an incident during a May 20 stream. During the stream, Infiltration discussed who is “allowed” to use certain slurs, referring to himself by an anti-Asian slur on several occasions and at one point using an anti-Black racial slur. The incident resulted in Infiltration receiving a ban on Twitch and is likely the source of his ban from Capcom and other fighting game entities.

Capcom in particular has often come down hard on incidents it considers hate speech, notably handing down indefinite bans to three well-known players in 2020 for incidents relating to racially insensitive, homophobic, and transphobic conduct.

Infiltration pled ignorance in regards to the ban, claiming that he did not know why he had been banned and that none of the parties involved had provided a reason for his ban.

However, the fact remains that Capcom has handed down the most severe punishment available to the company and until the decision is reversed, Infiltration will not be welcome at most major fighting game events.

Header: Capcom