NetherRealm Studios has officially removed Mortal Kombat 11 from the Evo Online roster in response to abuse, harassment, and other allegations made against the tournament’s president, Joey “Mr. Wizard” Cuellar.
MK11 was one of four games added to the main online roster following the cancelation of Evo 2020 due to COVID-19 and pulled in more than 1,000 competitors to sign up to compete in the online event.
To show support to everyone in the Fighting Game Community who have spoken out against, abuse, harassment, and assault, the developers are the game from Evo entirely.
“We stand in solidarity with those who have spoken out against abuse. We will be pulling MK11 from EVO Online,” NetherRealm said.
Evo placed Cuellar on administrative leave pending the completion of a third-party investigation after being accused of sexual harassment and pedophilia actions. Specifically, Cuellar allegedly paid a 17-year-old boy $20 in 2001 to see his penis and frequently gave tokens to teenage boys to jump in a pool with just their underwear on.
Since then, many players, such as Final Kombat 2020 champion Dominque “SonicFox” McLean, have already said they will no longer compete in the event.
The fallout may continue to worsen until the Evo team make a decision about Cuellar following the completion of the investigation.
This article is being updated as more information becomes available.
