The Real Reason CouRage Was Fired From Casting Fortnite

Jack "CouRage" Dunlop recently revealed that his famous "f*** the mechs" quote might have lost him his "Fortnite" casting gig with Epic Games. He spoke about the clip during a hot wings challenge YouTube video, where someone asked him if it got him fired. It seems Epic didn't explicitly say the reason it dropped him, though it showed him the door soon after the clip went viral.

When "Fortnite" first started as an esport, CouRage was one of the main faces of the game as a caster. Casters are gaming specialists who commentate live with analysis on gameplay and highlight moments during streams and tournaments. In this case, CouRage casted for multiple Fortnite Championship Series (FNCS) and the Fortnite World Cup, a prestigious honor as the game's biggest international get-together. However, after Chapter 1 Season 10, CouRage disappeared from the casting scene altogether. Some suspected it was because of CouRage's mechs quote, which happened right before the time he stopped casting.

"I definitely didn't make people happy with my 'f*** the mechs' clip," CouRage said. "I was meant to cast the end of season event for Season X, 'f*** the mechs' happened, and I was told 'You know what, I think it's in our best interest to not cast this season and we'll reassess for the future'." He laughed it off, saying he hasn't casted in a "Fortnite" event since. Here's a little bit of backstory on why the clip even exists in the first place, and what happened afterward.

As reported by Dot Esports, CouRage said "f*** the mechs" after he and partner TimTheTatman died to a team of mechs during a Twitch Rivals tournament. It wasn't something he said during an Epic Games event as a caster, but a reaction he had on his own stream while competing in the tournament. Still, it seems that speaking poorly of the mechs in general rubbed Epic the wrong way.

To be fair, CouRage's outburst represented what some players felt. Many agreed that mechs were a way to cheat their way to victory. It became enough of a problem that Epic eventually caved with the B.R.U.T.E. mech, adding changes that it hoped would satisfy its player base. Thankfully, Epic Games has since moved on from mechs. 

As for streaming, "Fortnite" took a break from official streams for most of 2020. Then, official streams returned with familiar faces like Zeke, BallaTW, Sundown, MonsterDFace, and Shyowager, who casted alongside CouRage during the Fortnite World Cup. 

That didn't seem to bother CouRage, though. Historically, his focus has been more on content creation. He's also a top YouTube streamer and a 100 Thieves co-owner, so he's still a successful esports entrepreneur even without Epic's seal of approval. At least, as his own boss, he doesn't need to worry about getting fired for an outburst on stream.