American esports organization Team Envy has officially released every member of their CSGO squad, but the move doesn’t really come as much of a surprise.
Envy has been one of the most well-known esports orgs in the CSGO scene since 2015, but with the wild year esports has gone through, some insiders are claiming that it’s no longer financially profitable to operate a professional Counter-Strike team.
One of those was Envy owner Mike ‘hastr0’ Rufail, who likened running a CS team to “lighting money on fire” in the current moment.
Actually, operating almost any CS team is lighting money on fire right now. There are no underlying assets that support the spend where top player salaries are. I’m sure you could run a fantastic team if you had unlimited cash, but what happens when you can’t cover your cost?
— Mike Rufail (@hastr0) January 8, 2021
“Operating almost any CS team is lighting money on fire right now,” hastr0 wrote just a few days before the news broke. “There are no underlying assets that support the spend where top player salaries are. I’m sure you could run a fantastic team if you had unlimited cash, but what happens when you can’t cover your cost?”
With that on the table, it’s no surprise that Team Envy announced they would be officially disbanding, and placing their entire roster on the transfer list on January 11.
This means that players Thomas ‘Thomas’ Utting, Nikola ‘LEGIJA’ Ninic, Michal ‘MICHU’ Muller, Bugra ‘Calyx’ Arkin, Noah ‘Nifty’ Francis, and coach Jakub ‘kuben’ Gurczynski will all have to find new teams going forward.
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Today we bid farewell to Envy CS:GO.
Thank you to all of our players & staff for your time and dedication while on Envy. We wish you all the best in the future.
📜: https://t.co/PagAYz9WqN pic.twitter.com/jMIAoeTF8f
— ENVY (@Envy) January 11, 2021
While the news is certainly disappointing to Envy CSGO fans, hastr0 didn’t rule out a return to the esport for the org in the future after a “hard reset.”
“Let’s be honest, we haven’t performed the best in CS for a while after being former world champions with our great French rosters,” Rufail wrote on Twitter after the news broke. “It was time for a hard reset and we are performing at a top level in so many other games right now. Will keep you guys posted.”
Let's be honest, we haven't performed the best in CS for a while after being former world champions with our great French rosters. It was time for a hard reset and we are performing at a top level in so many other games right now. Will keep you guys posted.
— Mike Rufail (@hastr0) January 11, 2021
It’s still unknown where any of the former players or coaches will end up following this shakeup, but be sure to stick with Dexerto for all the latest CSGO esports updates as we head into what could be a wild 2021.
