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For those who follow competitive esports, Cloud9 is a name that is quite well-known, even in terms of Valorant.
Organizations dissolving their business in a certain esports title to focus on another one has always been a common occurrence. This can happen due to lack of financial support, lack of leadership qualities, or sometimes even due to lack of proper management.
However, a colossal organization like Cloud9 dissolving their once successful CS: GO project, to solely focus on Valorant, came as a shock to the fans of the team.
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Cloud9, as an organization, have ventured into almost all esports titles, including Dota 2, CS: GO, Valorant, Rocket League, Smash, and more. Through countless victories and competitions, they have cemented their name among the veterans of esports.
Some in the community suggest that the dissolving of the CS project is the final nail in the coffin for CS: GO in the North American region, where the whole FPS community has more or less shifted to Valorant.
Cloud9 to focus only on Valorant
In September last year, the CS project of Cloud9 was founded, and it was handed to Henry "HenryG" Greer. He put his trust in Alex "ALEX" McMeekin for the leadership of the whole squad. Shortly after, Özgür "woxic" Eker, William "mezii" Merriman, Ricky "floppy" Kemery, and Patrick "es3tag" Hansen joined the new CS: GO roster, which was formed to compete in the upcoming tournaments.
Soon after, the roster’s coach, Aleksandar "kassad" Trifunović, left the team, and "woxic" was replaced by Erick "Xeppaa" Bach. For the whole month, the Cloud9 roster showed nothing more than average results, having not been able to qualify for the IEM Katowice. They were then defeated by VOYVOA and Winsteike in second-tier tournaments.
The final nail in the coffin for this roster was not being able to qualify for the EPC season 13 playoffs, and thus, Cloud9 finally decided to discontinue their 5-month long CS project. Cloud9 is thinking about pulling back to NA after the COVID-19 situation is solved.
There were also reports of the players already losing interest in CS altogether and that they were willing to switch to Valorant. Even though no official statement has been released by Cloud9, the community thinks all their members might join Valorant, and some might even join under the banner of Cloud9.
Future of Cloud9
In a later tweet, it was found that Cloud9’s CEO confirmed that they truly are pulling out of CS from the EU, however, they are still interested in CS: GO, and may return with another roster in NA.
