In a shocking move, David Dashtoyan, CEO and founder of North American team Forward Gaming, announced the esports organization will cease to exist.
“As of today, all employees’ contracts are being released and our players become free agents,” Dashtoyan shared in a Twitlonger post. He also stated that he had to “close the company with the debt remaining owed to the players”, which was a total of US$36,000 in prize money and player salaries for the month of June.
Dashtoyan also mentioned that he informed the players about the company’s state and told them they might shut down the team right after the Epicenter Major.
They decided to break the news just a week after Forward Gaming secured a spot for The International 2019 by winning the North American regional qualifier. The members set to compete in Shanghai are Yawar “Yawar” Hassan, Quinn “CCnC” Callahan, Jingjun “Sneyking” Wu, Arif “MSS” Anwar, and Johan “Pieliedie” Astrom as captain.
The team is supported by their coach, Kurtis “Aui2000” Ling, and team manager Jack “KBBQ” Chen who thanked Dashtoyaan on Twitter and added that they were looking for a TI sponsor.
Forward Gaming has had a disappointing 2018-2019 DPC Season. They ranked 16th place with 304.88 points, often exiting Majors in the early stages.
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