Sellout
To fail so badly, you take everyone else down with you
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Sellout (Sell, Selling, Sold, Sold-out)
Sellout (Sell, Selling, Sold, Sold-out)
Sellout is a phrase used to shame someone for failing so hard that you hold back the entire group or team. The phrase could be used in a variety of ways like, "You're such a sellout," "You sold us the game," or "Don't sell this game." Being labeled a sellout could mean that you're underperforming in a game, making the wrong decisions under pressure, or purposely sabotaging everyone for your own amusement. My research found that "sellout," and its other forms, originated from people who are fans of sports, sports games, and other completive games. From my personal experience, I have heard it the most from the NBA 2K community, who has been using this phrase since 2017, possibly even longer.
Video #1
I honestly think that this TikTok on the right is the best example of a sellout in a video game. In the video, you can see that the creator's teammate, WhoopWorldWideYT, is making terrible decisions that put the team at risk of losing. By taking bad shots, dunking the ball with multiple defenders in the way, and playing poor defense, the team is likely losing the game, and WhoopWorldWideYT is at fault.
As you watch the video, the entire team is expressing completely different reactions to WhoopWorldWideYT's poor performance in the game. some teammates are laughing while others are annoyed. This could mean that the rest of team are all too familiar to WhoopWorldWideYT's antics. It could also be argued that WhoopWorldWideYT could be doing this on purpose just to annoy his teammates, in which case, is working.
Video #2
In the video on the left, you can see the person in the footage throwing a boogie bomb at the helicopter, causing the entire team to fall out of it and die from fall damage. In the game Fortnite, the "boogie bomb" is a grenade that forces anyone hit by it to be forced out of any action to start dancing until they're either hit by a weapon or when 10 seconds pass. With that knowledge, you can now understand what caused the team to fall out of the helicopter.
By watching the video, you would see that the creator of the video blames his teammates for selling the game, even though we see that he is directly responsible for their eliminations. That makes this video another example of someone being a sellout just to mess with the team.
Video #3
In the video on the right, the man expresses his annoyance with his friend singing (most likely) to his girlfriend, causing them to lose the game. Since the friend's girlfriend is Face Timing him (or vise versa), he cannot give 100% attention to the game, resulting in their losses.
From my time playing games and being on the internet, this seems to be a shared experience across the gaming community. I'm sure that the reasoning behind it is different for everyone, but I usually see guys play games while on facetime with their girlfriends as a way of bonding. However, I've heard that it is annoying to try to focus on a game while your friend/teammate is being distracted by their phone.
Bio
Bio
My name is Adrian Reed, and I am a biology major at Sacramento City College. I was born and raised in Sacramento, California. I plan to transfer to Sac State or UC Davis (I can't make up my mind) in Spring 2026 to major in animal biology. Once I get my degree, I plan to become an animal biologist and study and observe animals worldwide.
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