Dafran explains why ex-OWL casters are an “overrated Gucci brand”

Former Overwatch pro star Daniel ‘Dafran’ Francesca didn’t hold back when giving his thoughts on the recent wave of casters who have left the Overwatch League.

The 26-year-old Twitch streamer was reading a thread on the Competitive Overwatch subreddit about on-air host Malik Forte allegedly being unhappy with the pay that Blizzard had offered him.

“Why do they think they’re worth so much?” Francesca asked his viewers. “Honestly, the casters who left… so what, dude?”

The recent Overwatch League news cycle has been dominated with reports that casters and other broadcast talent were leaving. However, according to the Danish DPS sensation, fans shouldn’t be worried.

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“There are other people who are just as good who can take their place for less pay, dude,” Francesca said. “There’s easily people who can be much better. I feel like Monte, Semmler and Malik are like the ‘Gucci’ brand of casters. The overrated Gucci brand.”

Gucci is a luxury brand of clothing that some people feel are overpriced and not worth the amount it retails for.

“Then we have upcoming, hype people who come up and they’re going to be hype,” he continued. “They’re going to be a lot better, dude. And they don’t need that much pay. They can take the job for way less pay, dude.”

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It has been a rough 2020 for fans of the Overwatch League so far. The bad news began on New Year’s Eve when storied esports caster and analyst Christopher ‘MonteCristo’ Mykles announced his departure from the league, citing creative differences.

This was soon followed up with news that Chris Puckett, Auguste ‘Semmler’ Massonnat and Monte’s former casting partner Erik ‘DoA’ Lonnquist were all leaving.

On-air host Malik Forte announced that he would no longer be working for Blizzard on January 13, leaving the talent pool spread even thinner.

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Thus far, the league has announced that former players Jacob ‘Jake’ Lyon and Scott ‘Custa’ Kennedy would be on the desk in some capacity for the third season. Jake, in particular, is set to be casting games with the ever-popular and recently promoted Andrew ‘ZP’ Rush.

It will be fun to see if Dafran is right and see if the new blood can live up to the hype the streamer believes they are capable of bringing.