Method implodes in wake of abuse scandal: General manager steps down, players and partners depart, sponsors dry up, founder takes time out to contemplate the org’s future

Update (June 26th 2020): Method, one of the UK’s biggest and most well-known esports organisations, has crumbled to bare bones in a matter of days.

General manager Shanna ‘Darrie’ Roberts has resigned, along with other players, as the org finds itself in a state of turmoil.

Most of Method’s players and teams have now departed the org, and sponsors like MSI and Corsair have ended their relationships with Method.

Method founder Scott McMillan has also published a statement on the matter, saying he will be taking time out to contemplate his and Method’s future:

Esports manager Rob Evans has also published a Twitlonger about his time at Method, highlighting a similar incident of what he claims was some kind of covering up by Method.

Original article (published June 25th 2020):

Some of Method’s partners – and players – have stepped away from the UK-based World of Warcraft esports organisation following several disturbing allegations.

A number of serious accusations have been made towards former player Method Josh over the past few days publicly on Twitter, claiming the Brit has committed multiple forms of abuse in recent years, including rape, soliciting graphic images of minors, grooming and other forms of sexual harassment.

You can see some of the accusations and accounts here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Apparently several reports have also been filed to the police.

Streamers Esfand and Preach Gaming and PandaTV have distanced themselves from Method, as have popular World of Warcraft news and content website Wowhead.

Some players and partners and other internal staff have also walked away from Method or removed Method branding from their socials over the issue too.

This includes Whaazz, Ziqo, Payo, Creek, Djarii, Naowh, Ellesmere, Tips Out, Snowmixy, Auxidental, Zizaran and Graycen, the Path of Exile team and many others.

Method have ended their relationship with Josh effective immediately, however several people in the community are not happy it has taken this long for action to be taken.

This article by Kotaku first reported on Josh’s disturbing behaviour back in February 2019. Before then, Method said they made an internal investigation into the matter, as outlined in these leaked DMs, but it’s not clear what actually came of it.

Preach said he asked Method about the situation regarding Method Josh several times after the player was banned on Twitch last year, and he was apparently told ‘it was not a big deal and had been dealt with’.

“Somebody must have known something,” he said in the below video.

Method said in a statement: “Recently substantiated accusations on social media have cast a light on Josh’s behaviour that has disturbed us all, resulting in our immediate action to remove him from the organisation. In retrospect, we deeply regret that we did not act sooner.

“It has been circulating on social media that Method and specifically the guild were internally aware of the extent of Josh’s behaviour; this is categorically untrue and sickening to read.

“We will be overhauling our internal policies to make sure nothing like this ever happens again.”

Prominent esports journalist Rod ‘Slasher’ Breslau has reported that Method’s statement is ‘a lie’ and that ‘members within Method have been aware of Josh’s behavior for quite a while’, that’s apparently according to multiple former Blizzard employees.

Additionally, Method CEO and co-founder Sascha Steffens has also been accused of predatory behaviour by former Method member AnnieFuchsia and Swebliss, which he has denied (here and here).

He has now been placed on unpaid leave by Method as the org investigates.

We’ll aim to update this article with any further developments.

The news comes after a disturbing spate of accusations around harassment in the esports and video games industry emerged over the past week.

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Dom Sacco

Dom is an award-winning writer who graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.

A keen League of Legends and World of Warcraft player, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV as well as Riot Games and others. He works as full-time content director for the British Esports Association and runs ENUK in his spare time.