Fallen Staples: CLG reportedly to shrink esports portfolio, selling LCS franchise slot.

Shock Ripples in the Esports Industry

Counter Logic Gaming will reportedly shut down as an esports organization in the near future, according to independent League of Legends reporter Travis Gafford. He released a video on the 3rd of April detailing recent interviews he has done with several contacts within the scene. According to his video report, beginning on the 6th of April, all employees, including Gregory Kim (head of CLG) will be released from the organization. The mass layoffs are the latest to hit the esports scene following reports of Kroenke Sports and Entertainment shutting down operations back in February, and TSM reportedly putting their LCS spot up for sale several days back.

In Travis’ video, he detailed how the mass layoffs would affect nearly every department of CLG, aside from the League vertical, which he reported as potentially heading for NRG. NRG has not entered the North American League of Legends space since 2016, when their League roster disbanded. Since then, the only news of NRG within the League space has been their partnership with CMG.Asia to form NRG Asia. NRG Asia has since acquired GAM Esports.

United in Disbandment

Following the announcement on TSM, many old fans of League of Legends expressed concerns with the failing downward trajectory of esports, especially for North American League. Despite recent revelations, both TSM and CLG have been staples of the LCS landscape for many years. Now it appears as if CLG will, in the near future, cease to be a brand. Reports by Travis indicated that the CLG ownership is looking to sell off their League of Legends vertical. Moreover, the report further indicates that while the mass layoffs are confirmed to a degree, the rest of the details, including the future fate of the brand, remains to be seen and is currently unknown to the staff members.

CLG will reportedly keep their 2023 League of Legends roster for the time being, although as mentioned, sale for the long-standing LCS team’s slot is in the works. As also mentioned, Los Angeles-based organization NRG is currently the prime candidate for picking up the roster and the slot, although it is unclear at this time if they intend to maintain the CLG brand and IP, or rebrand the roster under their own NRG brand.

Mass Layoffs Rippling Through Industry

At the heart of Travis’ article, he expressed sympathy for the massive layoffs, stating that ‘a lot of people just lost their jobs, and they lost it on very short notice.’ Despite the best efforts for CLG to turn things around, in the manner they conducted themselves and their practices, it wasn’t enough to stave off the inevitable, which is that esports, is a bleeding industry that has produced very little profitability for esports organizations.

From a viewer and fan’s perspectives, many of them would be quick to dismiss their competitive aspect as a failure to field a competitive roster. From that inference, in terms of popularity, that would have fallen to the wayside with competitiveness. The sad reality of esports is that a lot of organizations do not field competitive rosters, and thus, there are few options to increase sponsorship viability. Sad as it is, the CLG brand could very well fade into the void in the coming months as it gets deconstructed.

The CLG roster is currently competing the LCS, the North American professional League of Legends league.

Image credit: LCS // LoL Esports