The Kansas City Pioneers are set to join the Apex Legends space by buying out the players from the GMT Esports roster, a source close to the situation has told Dexerto.
GMT Esports are a European organization with teams in Apex Legends and PUBG Mobile. The Apex roster placed fifth at the Apex Legends Global Series 2022 Championship. With that placement, the team earned $120,000 and were one place shy of appearing on the podium at the tournament.
The roster is now set to sign with North America-based Kansas City Pioneers via a buyout. The European roster consists of Casper ‘Gnaske’ Præstensgaard, Matthew ‘SirDel’ Biggins and Maksym ‘Max-Strafe’ Stadniuk.
What a tournament…It was an honour to compete alongside the world's best and we could not be more proud of our team. 5TH PLACE. TOP FIVE IN THE WORLD. Thank you to SirDel, Gnaske, MaxStrafe, Maydeelol, Raven, RamBeau and the rest of for being a part of thisLegends. pic.twitter.com/imm72L9fxf
— GMT Esports (@GMTesports) July 11, 2022
This would mark the Pioneers’ first venture into Apex Legends esports. The organization has fielded rosters in Halo, Valorant, Rockey League, Splitgate and Madden.
Kansas City Pioneers venture into Apex Legends for the first time
GMT Esports jumped into Apex Legends in 2021 by signing four players. Gnaske and SirDel were among those first signed, Max-Strafe joined in February of 2022.
With its current starting three players GMT Esports have had top finishes at high-tier events like the Jaxon Apex cup, AGLS 2022 Split 2 Pro League in EMEA and a 12th place finish at AGLS 2022 Split 2 Playoffs.
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Pioneers are no strangers to running esports teams from other countries or with foreign talent. The organization’s Rocket League squad is from Oceania and has competed in Oceanic and North American competitions.
The deal between the two organizations is set to be announced within the month of September. The ALGS circuit concluded with the 2022 Championship back in July.
There are third-party events for teams to compete in and Respawn Entertainment has yet to announce the 2023 circuit or other events at this time.
Pioneer Apex Legends (expected)
- Casper ‘Gnaske’ Præstensgaard
- Matthew ‘SirDel’ Biggins
- Maksym ‘Max-Strafe’ Stadniuk