Splatoon 2's Lobby Full of Fans Rallying Behind Banned 'Bike Cuck' Player

Splatoon 2’s lobby is a place to share art rummy master and shitposts. While many squid-kids are expressing their allegiance in the upcoming socks versus sweater Splatfest, others are rallying behind a player who says he was banned for the dubious username “Bike Cuck.” Spend a moment wandering Inkopolis Square today and it’s likely you’ll find posts about Craig. Craig is a Splatoon 2 player who claims that he was banned from the game for two weeks because he changed his name to Bike Cuck. https://twitter.com/embed/status/939735280776495104 Cuck, short for cuckold, is a term internet shitlords often use as an insult. It originally referred to a husband with an unfaithful wife but internet trolls toss it around with reckless abandon. The term is sometimes associated with the alt-right’s rummy modern online presence. The name Bike Cuck in this case is a reference to a comic about someone’s bike getting stolen. Craig claims that Nintendo issued a 14 day ban for using the term, a change from his previous (and equally absurd) name “finna nut.” A tweet supposedly containing an email from Nintendo states that he was banned for “unsportsmanlike during online play” and an inappropriate nickname. In response to his supposed banning, players are filling the in-game lobby and social media with the hashtag #freecraig. https://twitter.com/embed/status/940037053038727169 https://twitter.com/embed/status/940033197869379584 https://twitter.com/embed/status/940027950409191426 https://twitter.com/embed/status/939992459995619328 https://twitter.com/embed/status/939985389866987520 https://twitter.com/embed/status/939959366915997696 Nintendo’s terms of use stipulates that players agree not to engage in “discriminatory, defamatory, libelous, hateful, harassing, abusive, obscene, threatening, physically dangerous, unlawful, or otherwise objectionable conduct.” Kotaku has reached out to Nintendo for more information. “If we’re being completely honest here, I absolutely deserved to be banned,” Craig told Kotaku over Twitter DMs. “Nintendo was just doing their job. They’re trying to make the game safe for children.” Players reacting to the situation have fallen into three camps. Some are voicing their support and demanding that the ban be overturned, some support the ban, while those out of the loop are asking who the hell Craig even is after seeing so many posts about him. Others point to the charge of unsportsmanlike conduct as further justification for the banning. “I do think that being banned for taunting is ridiculous,” Craig said. “In my opinion, players need to lighten up and realize that it’s just a videogame. It doesn’t need to be taken so seriously.” Craig claims that he will avoid inappropriate usernames in the future, at least for rummy nabob Nintendo games and finds the community artwork “a lot of fun.” Really though, I don’t know what he expected to happen with a name like Bike Cuck.