Spacestation Gaming have parted ways with the Apex Legends Global Series 2024 Split 2 Playoffs champions. The announcement has come as a shock to the Apex Legends community as the Americans had just secured US$300,000 and a spot to compete at the Apex Legends Global Series 2024 Championship with their victory in Mannheim, Germany.
The roster including Josué "Phony" Ruiz, Brody "Xynew" Geissler, and Israel "Koyful" Lawrence had been competing together since May 2024. The team's fifth seed in the ALGS 2024 Split 2 Pro League North America was enough to clinch a spot to compete in the ALGS 2024 Split 2 Playoffs.
However, between the regional league and the competition played in Germany, the Americans traveled to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to compete in the Esports World Cup. According to Spacestation Gaming's CEO Shawn "Unit" Pellerin, that's when the problems began.
In a post released in his personal X account, Shawn explained that "it was brought to our attention that the team was going through an internal issue" during the Esports World Cup. Due to this internal problem, the players decided that they "would like to make changes or disband."
Despite the team's situation, both Spacestation Gaming and the players decided to play in Mannheim, Germany, as "rosters were locked for ALGS Mannheim" and they "mutually agreed that this would be their last event as a team together."
A second reason behind the players' departure from Spacestation Gaming was found in their contracts, as revealed by Shawn.
"We were also aware that the ALGS Championship was being pushed to 2025, and our contractually agreement with the players would expire at the end of 2024. We spoke with the players about an extension but they wanted to keep their options open after the major and we agreed to release them as soon as the event concluded so they could move to new teams," he admitted in his post on X.
Plain and simple, the decision to part ways had been taken before the start of the ALGS 2024 Split 2 Playoffs. Despite having released their Apex Legends roster, Spacestation Gaming "will be looking at options for a new team for Worlds (Championship) and the 2025 season."