Team Liquid has become the latest team to leave Apex Legends esports, farewelling their team on December 15. It comes following Cloud9’s departure and a wider ALGS exodus, with a lack of support from EA cited as a leading reason.
Apex Legends esports had a resurgence in 2022 with LAN events back on the calendar, but as 2023 approaches, many teams are reconsidering their place in the battle royale’s esports ecosystem.
Cloud9 were the first major player to pull the plug, dropping their team mid-way through the ALGS Year 3 Split 1 season. Now with competition coming to a close, Team Liquid has also announced their intention to leave Apex Legends esports.
There was no mincing of words in Liquid’s announcement. A lack of support from EA, plus a tightening of the budget, was the direct reason for pulling out of ALGS.
“Though the writing has been on the wall, and on social media, we understand this is probably confusing given how well the team has performed, even after they lost Gildersons,” the organization said on December 15.
“As with our experience in competitive PUBG, Team Liquid is an organization governed by the realities of this industry, both financial and social. On the financial side of things, the ALGS and how it is moving forward with monetization for teams simply doesn’t fit with our operations, and so we need to take our leave, though we take no pleasure in doing so.”
Team Liquid had one of North America’s more successful ALGS line-ups. They finished second behind Reignite (now DarkZero) at the Stockholm 2022 Split 2 Playoffs, and also qualified for the ALGS Championship in Raleigh.
The team had also qualified for the first LAN event of 2023, finishing in second behind TSM in the latest domestic ALGS regular season. They are due to compete in December 19’s NA finals, although it’s unclear if they’ll play under the Liquid banner.
Liquid will still be committed to Apex Legends through content creators though, recently signing Tanner ‘Rogue’ Trebb as a streamer in November 2022 after his two year stint on NRG.
They haven’t said goodbye forever either, with Liquid CEO Steve ‘LiQuiD112’ Arhancet stating the door is open for a return if more support is offered down the line.
“We are always going to be big fans of Apex Legends, of ALGS, and of our former players too,” he said. “I can tell there’s a real love of Apex in the entire Team Liquid family, and so I wish that we could stay in the ALGS and make a long-term investment in our roster and the competitive scene.
“But we strive to only participate in games where the developers support the teams, so the teams can support their players in turn. I’m hopeful that, one day, competitive Apex could follow that model and that we could return to the competition then.”
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