Rumors of CLG’s shutdown have been floating around and, with players and staff announcing their departure from the organization, the future of CLG is well and truly in peril.
Counter Logic Gaming has been around for over a decade, being founded in 2010 by at-the-time League of Legends pro player George ‘HotshotGG’ Georgallidis. Since then, the organization has grown expontentially and cemented itself as a top org within the LCS, a force to be reckoned with in games like Counter Strike and Apex Legends, and a mainstay org in the fighting game community.
However, recent reports have indicated that CLG may be no more. With reports indicating that they’ll be selling off their LCS spot to NRG and pulling out of all other esports ventures, the future isn’t exactly bright for this old-school org.
After an official announcement from CLG leader Greg Kim, former staff and players with the org have spoken about how positive their time with CLG was and how sad they are to be leaving that part of their lives behind.
CLG players and staff lament the end of their time with the org
Keeping a big organization like CLG afloat takes a lot of employees. Between social media managers, marketing, merchandise, operations, and the staff involved with the players that represent the brand, the shutdown of an org that has this much behind it leaves a lot of employees jobless.
Many (now former) staff with CLG have taken to Twitter announcing that they’ve been laid off and are moving on to the next chapter of their lives.
Greg Kim had a post that explained at length what leading the org has meant to him for the last two years. He left the end of his post with a bit of optimism about the future of the industry, even in the face or the org he led shutting down.
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“I hope the events of this week spark productive conversation, rather than cynicism. I still have faith in the fundamental idea that so long as people enjoy competitive gaming – there will always be a future for esports.”
Former CLG head of marketing Danielle Fox was at least able to make a light hearted joke in relation to the layoffs, one that refers to the controversial CLG roster video that caused a great deal of backlash in 2021, saying “We got bud light aced“.
We got bud light aced. pic.twitter.com/TOaAY7uOKd
— FUG Danielle Fox (@anddaniellesaid) April 6, 2023
Players have also been let go, with Smash player Cody Schwab getting congratulated for winning a major by getting dropped from the org entirely.
We always believed. 🙌@iBDWSSBM came into Major Upset with one goal in mind. Win. Congratulation's to Cody for doing just that by taking home 1st place this weekend in #SSBM singles!#CLGWIN | #DefendTheFaith pic.twitter.com/FLRuLxpzL6
— Run It FGC (@RunItFGC) April 3, 2023
He’s since announced his free agency. The League of Legends players have yet to do the same, something that aligns with reports that the League of Legends vertical will be sticking around for now. That said, some of the players have made fairly vague tweets about to the future of CLG and their time as pro players.
NRG CEO Andy Miller has officially announced that they’ll be taking over and re-entering the LCS.
A quick message from NRG CEO Andy MillerWe have some exciting things planned, and will be answering more questions in the coming week. pic.twitter.com/oODiBSAetz
— NRG Kia League (@NRGLeague) April 6, 2023
He’s confirmed that they’ll be keeping the League of Legends vertical that CLG held onto and will be keeping their LCS roster the same. Additionally, he’s confirmed that they’ll be swapping all the CLG branding to NRG as soon as Riot allows them to do so.