Esports
suNny Announces Departure from ENCE


One of the most well-known CSGO professional esports players is parting ways from his current esports team to find a new home for 2021.
Miikka ‘suNny’ Kemppi officially announced on Twitter that he has come to an agreement with ENCE that allows him to search for a new team as the new year approaches.
Hey,
ENCE and I have come to an agreement that I am allowed to search a new team for 2021. Please contact me or ENCE’s gm @willkey87 since I don’t have an agent.
There is talks going on, but nothing has been decided yet.
Thanks for the support!Miikka
— Miikka Kemppi (@suNnycsgo) December 22, 2020
The departure continues the rough 2020 year for ENCE, who also lost Jere ‘sergej’ Salo, who opted to leave to serve his required military conscription in Finland.
ENCE issued the following on their official website: “Effective today Miikka “suNny” Kemppi has been benched from playing in ENCE’s active CS:GO roster. This decision has been made in mutual understanding between Miikka and the organization, as we are evaluating our next steps towards the 2021 CS:GO season.
The process to restructure and rebuild our CS:GO team is ongoing and we will further communicate our 2021 plans after the Christmas holidays have concluded. We understand our fans and followers wish to know our vision for the upcoming year, but we ask you to bear with us as we work tirelessly to come to a conclusion.”
Business
Riot Games Discusses League of Legends Esports


There is no denying that the esports industry, as a whole, has experienced it’s fair share of struggles financially and those struggled have also hit Riot Games’ League of Legends esports division, which still has not generated a profit.
Riot Games’ senior director of esports operations Raul Fernandez spoke about those challenges during the League Championship Series Summer finals last weekend stating that Riot Games were “trying to find their footing” and “a way to refresh our league” in light of declining viewership numbers, according to Axios.
“It’s been an interesting year for esports across the globe, but despite the hardships at Riot, we’re very much excited for the future and potential of esports, especially for the LCS,” Fernandez said, per Dot Esports.
“I just wanted to make it very loud and clear that the LCS is in a very healthy position financially because of this sustained and continued support from both external partners, the team side, from sponsors, as well as internally.”
The rise of live-streaming and an esports streaming platform hasn’t turned the tide as the LCS Summer finals saw a 21.8% drop in peak viewership compared to the LCS Spring finals, according to Esports Charts.
The troubling trends have been a focus for esports journalists covering the industry and Fernandez said one of the biggest challenges is the “complexity” of League of Legends. The report goes on to note that continuous updates and an expanded roster of characters “has made it hard for Riot games to sell in-game items themed to top players or teams” pointing to the choice for fans of the competition.
Business
G2 Esports CEO On Unpaid Leave Following Sharing of Video with Andrew Tate


G2 Esports CEO Carlos Rodriguez has agreed to take eight weeks of unpaid leave from the company following the sharing of a video on Twitter of himself partying with controversial creator Andrew Tate, who has been banned on platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook for violations of terms of services, including instances of hate speech and misogyny.
Rodriguez accompanied the 8-second video that featured Tate and himself with: “Yesterday we celebrated G2’s world championship.” The video prompted immediate backlash which has marred G2 Esports’ 2022 League of Legends European Championship spring season and summer season successes.
Rodriguez fired back at the criticism the video received: “Nobody will ever be able to police my friendships. I draw my line here. I party with whoever the fuck I want.”
G2 Esports issued the following on Sunday: “Last night we failed you. The actions of our CEO spoke a language in stark contrast with the value and the culture G2 lives by and strives for. And for that we apologize.
“Since our creation, we have worked hard to build a safe and inclusive environment to enjoy esports. These are just small steps in the right direction we need to take as a company. We’ll continue to do our best each and every day to improve ourselves and the industry at large.”
Esports
NAVI Releasing Documentary on s1mple


NAVI is getting set to release a documentary that will follow s1mple’s life and explore his “ups and downs” as one of the most recognizable esports players with insight from former and current teammates, his family, commentators, analysts, and “many others” from the industry.
“I remember the time when we just signed a contract in 2016,” NAVI CEO Yevhen Zolotarov said in an official press release. “Honestly, now it’s hard to believe that it was already five years ago. For the esports industry, five years is quite a long period of time.”
“S1mple is a legend not only for NAVI but for esports in general,” co-founder and CEO of DMarket Vlad Panchenko said. “Therefore, the items that will be dropping during the NAVI watch party stream are also legendary and unique.”
DMarket has created a “unique drop-game” with exclusive items dedicated to s1mple to coincide with the release of the doc, and Natus Vincerewill be premiering a documentary about him on Twitch next month, to celebrate his fifth year with the brand.
Additionally, a NAVI watch party is also set for the doc, set to air on one of their upcoming twitch streams set to take place on September 8th at 11am CT.
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