Ending Clap for the current Vancouver Titans team in the Overwatch League. The former Contenders Runaway roster — which was signed last year to move up to the highest competitive level of Overwatch — had a fantastic Season 2 all the way to the Grand Finals, where they lost to San Francisco Shock.
In a letter to fans, Tim Holloway — Director of Aquilini Entertainment's Esports Department — explains the state of the season and what led to this massive departure. According to him, at the beginning of the season, morale was high and the players were ready to fight to avenge their defeat last season.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire League organization was affected. With the cancellation of homestands and travel restrictions, players were stuck in their training locations. The situation wasn't likely to improve in the immediate future, and with "excessive caution", the players were sent home to South Korea to stay with their families.
The original plan was to join the Asian division and continue playing the new schedule from the comfort of the players' homes, but it soon became clear that this created a whole new kind of challenge! Time zone differences also made communication between management and players difficult, while creating a disconnection with the fanbase. Whether it be in terms of hardware, players' personal internet connections, or anything technical, every little difficulty could quickly become extremely complex in this pandemic context. Another problem Tim Holloway points out is the time difference between the players, based in South Korea, and the Vancouver-based team management, which would have exacerbated the situation.
With the organization failing to respond to the expectations of the players in Korea, and after many conversations with the players, the difficult decision to bring the team back to the North American division was made and both the players and management agreed that finding a new home for the players was in everyone's best interest.
By mutual agreement, the team and the following players have agreed to separate:
- HyoJong "HakSal" Kim
- Minsoo "Seominsoo" Seo
- Seongjun "Slime" Kim
- Chunghee "Stitch" Lee
- Juseok "Twilight" Lee
- JeHong "RyuJeHong" Yu
- Yangwon "Yang1" Kweon (coach)
- Jae Hong "Andante" Hwang (coach)
Only Chan Hyeong "Crack" Baek was fired from the team without mutual agreement.
We don't know yet if the players have already found a new team, or if the team has already found new players. There are many rumors indicating the signature of Second Wind or Third Impact, two Contenders teams.
Several members of Vancouver Titans team have removed all references to the team from their social networks. Speculation has been raised about internal conflicts marked by the departure of the general manager of Canuck Sports & Entertainment.
