Carolina parts ways with Nero

Dylan “Nero” Koch has been dropped by the Carolina Royal Ravens after a short-lived scandal broke across social media over the weekend. The Call of Duty League player came under scrutiny after direct messages were leaked between him and an unidentified woman, with the conversation showing him trying to pursue “esex.”

Nero later posted a message on social media about the situation in a joking tone, and fans quickly rallied around him. Because apparently no internet controversy is complete without a sizable group of people deciding the whole thing is either tragic, ridiculous, or both.

DMs leak, account disappears

The leaked messages were shared on social media by a user going by virtualnekoo, who posted screenshots of what appeared to be a sexual conversation and advances from the CDL player.

That account has since been deleted from X after facing a wave of abuse from people defending Nero. The internet, in its endless commitment to subtlety, once again proved it can turn a bad situation into a much larger one in record time.

One user offered a half-defense, half-condemnation of the whole mess:

Lemme tell you as weird as what you did was, her exposing you was 10000x weirder. You’re awkward, but she’s a piece of s**t.

Nero responds to the benching

Nero responded to Carolina’s decision with a statement of his own:

Sorry I have a real life. A lot of gamers communicate primarily online, through Twitter and DMs, and the way people talk in those spaces can be very different. That said, what was sent clearly wasn’t received appropriately, and I understand that. I just wish this could’ve been handled privately instead of turning into a public pile on.

Others on social media suggested the Royal Ravens may have had another motive for moving on from him. One post argued the team used the incident as a convenient way to remove a higher-paid player and replace him with a cheaper option:

This was an excuse to remove a high tier player (with a high salary) and replace him with an entry salary player because your org is poverty. All he did was goon in private cringe but not firing worthy.

Where things stand

Nero had been with Carolina for roughly five months. He joined the Royal Ravens in November 2025, ahead of the 2026 CDL season, before being pushed out of the lineup after the leaked messages surfaced.

For now, the situation has left the team with one less player and social media with exactly the kind of self-inflicted argument it never seems to be able to resist.