Overwatch player Becca "Aspen" Rukavina has left Cloud9 after a year of streaming under the organization's name. She was originally signed as an Overwatch streamer in July of 2018. In a video released on her Twitter, she states that she hopes to play professionally in the Overwatch League next season.
Aspen started streaming Overwatch two years ago, slowly building up her brand before being signed to Cloud9. Though she is mostly recognized as a streamer, she has slowed down in recent months for a variety of reasons. She has stated previously that streaming has given her anxiety, which it seems has prevented her from keeping up her regular streaming schedule. She acknowledges this in the video released on Twitter, stating, "though I haven't been streaming, I've still been playing a ton of Overwatch." She goes on to explain that she is a "naturally competitive person," and wants to see how far she can go in being "the best player she can be." Her efforts have pivoted away from streaming full time, and are now focused on joining an Overwatch League team next season.
Female gamers are heavily underrepresented in the professional scene. Currently, only Kim "Geguri" Se-Yeon competes in the OWL, though other women have climbed up the ranks in an effort to join her. Aspen now has plans to reach that summit, and join Geguri on the Overwatch League's stage. Female Overwatch players were met with a bit of a setback earlier this year, after an Overwatch Contenders player called "Ellie" was discovered to be a male player pretending to be a woman. Aspen was involved in this drama, being the one to state on stream that Ellie was actually a male player called Punisher. Female players are often targeted by their own gaming communities, Aspen included. In a tweet, she stated that she was "confused by all this Reddit stuff" and that she didn't feel like streaming. This came in response to negative comments she received after appearing in Cloud9's BMW commercial earlier this year.
Regardless, Aspen hopes to take her supportive play all the way to the big stage. The Overwatch League is currently in the first week of stage 4 of its second season. Playoffs will begin on August 30th, with the grand final taking place at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 29th. Aspen expects to join the fray in season 3, which should begin sometime early next year.