SonicFox has done it again. The eSports Awards Console Player of The Year won the Mortal Kombat 11 World Championship, fighting through the losers bracket to take home the gold. After winning, they then endorsed presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on stream.
SonicFox is known as one of the best fighting games players of all time, being absolutely dominant at games like Mortal Kombat and Dragonball FighterZ. They have multiple Evo championships under their belt and are known for the speed at which they can master new games. They're also known for their outgoing persona, and for wearing a full fursuit to tournaments. SonicFox is also now a free agent after their previous sponsor Echo Fox went under earlier this year.
SonicFox took home over $40,000 in prize money for the tournament, a massive amount of money for a fighting game, although nothing compared to the 10 million recently won at a Fortnite tournament. Draped in a Trans pride flag and carrying their fursuit's head, SonicFox took to the stage to close out the tournament with a simple message: "Vote Bernie." This is, of course, a reference to current Democratic presidential candidate and United States Senator from Vermont Bernie Sanders.
SonicFox's endorsement of Bernie Sanders follows a trend of more eSports players using their platforms to support political causes. Last year a Hearthstone player was banned from competitive play after his comments supporting the Hong Kong protests. His banning was met with widespread condemnation and even a rebuke from United States House members.
For some, the mixing of politics and video games remains controversial. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney recently expressed that politics should be kept out of the gaming industry, and there are a number of players who agree with him. Some gamers view video games as an escape from the outside world, and reminders of political realities can come off as an unwelcome interjection.
However, many gamers would argue they don't have the luxury of escaping the outside world. This is certainly true for a black, non-binary, furry gamer like SonicFox. They would argue that merely existing as themselves is a political act, and they have a duty to raise awareness for causes that are important to them and to try and make the world a better, more inclusive, place.
Mortal Kombat 11 is out now for PC, PS4, Stadia, Switch, and Xbox One.