FunPlus Phoenix Discontinue CS:GO Division

FunPlus Phoenix have announced their departure from CS:GO, citing “limitations and difficulties during remote management” as a reason for the change. The organization has housed a Counter-Strike roster since January 2021, when it acquired the former GODSENT lineup of Jesse “⁠zehN⁠” Linjala, Martin “⁠STYKO⁠” Styk, Pavle “⁠Maden⁠” Bošković , Asger “⁠Farlig⁠” Jensen, and coach Jonatan “⁠Devilwalk⁠” Lundberg.

The team had limited success in the last eleven months, winning a Snow Sweet Snow event near the start of the year and qualifying for IEM Summer, but failing to muster any notable achievements or tournament placements in their larger event appearances.

They also failed to qualify for PGL Major Stockholm after ending up in 14th place on the Europe Regional Major Ranking leaderboard, going out of IEM Fall early in the group stage and placing in ninth in Flashpoint 3.

FPX will no longer house a team in CS:GO

The Chinese organization first made an attempt to enter CS:GO in March 2020 as a partner team in Flashpoint with the signing of Heroic, a venture that later fell through when Patrick “⁠es3tag⁠” Hansen agreed to join Astralis ahead of the expiry of his contract.

With Flashpoint unable to host any offline events since, and the organization not being a Louvre Agreement team, opportunities to compete in larger international events have been slim.

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“All our members now are available to explore more options in CS:GO esports,” FPX said in their statement. “We wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors.”

Although the statement is unclear on whether the players are now free agents or still under contract, it is possible that a member may already be on the way out.

A report from Draft5 on Thursday indicates that Astralis may be exploring the possibility of acquiring Farlig to bolster their roster following their exit from PGL Major Stockholm, although with Philip “⁠Lucky⁠” Ewald only joining the team in August, a replacement this soon would come as a surprise.

FunPlus Phoenix had the following lineup: