Game commentator James Harding was fired by Valve head Gabe Newell during Dota 2’s recent Shanghai Major—in the middle of the event.
“Sorry to say I won’t be returning to the Shanghai major,” Harding wrote on Twitter, “I was let go after that last segment.” Harding went on to add that his departure was entirely Valve’s decision.
Newell does not deny that.
“We’ve had issues with James at previous events,” he wrote on Reddit. “Some Valve people lobbied to bring him back for Shanghai, feeling that he deserved another chance. That was a mistake. James is an ass, and we won’t be working with him again.”
Harding said Valve advised him to “be himself” on stage, and apparently interpreted that as reason to open the Wednesday broadcast with a discussion on pornography. As Polygon reports, Harding frequently disrupted the show director to redirect cameras to his liking and regularly denigrated tournament players with off-color comments, all while admitting to knowing little about Dota 2 itself.
With the firing squad already spooled up, Valve also elected to axe the production company previously in charge of the Shanghai Major. As all tournament viewers are surely aware, the Major’s coverage was plagued by frequent disconnections, mismatched volume and casting lag.
“[The production company] will be replaced, and we hope to get this turned around before the main event,” Newell concluded.
With a prize pool of $3 million, the Shanghai Major is the biggest Dota 2 event of 2016 thus far. It will resume March 2 and conclude March 6.
