Team Empire announced today it released its Rainbow Six Siege roster, which had been playing in the EUL under the name "PWNZ".
SiegeGG reported on the players' struggle to keep playing throughout the 2022 season after sanctions in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine hit Team Empire. The organization subsequently failed to pay its players "since March", said PWNZ manager Igor "TheRealestRussian" Obukhov.
PWNZ player Nikita "Niko2k" Rusyaev also revealed that he "should be paid" but he "didn’t know now" and said that the situation became so dire for him in Jul. that he was forced to "eat (just) bread for the 2-3 days" after complications with his bank. He also mentioned he had to "sell some of (his) things, mouses or keyboard, to have money as well."
PWNZ finished Stage 1 and Stage 2 of the EUL in last place, only accruing five and eight points, respectively. The team has only won two games in regulation time all season long, with three other wins coming in overtime. As such, it may be facing the prospect of relegation come the end of the season, though it is possible that the relegation system is scrapped entirely.
The team will evidently be able to continue to play in the EUL, akin to Tyde (the former Invictus Gaming roster) currently and how the former TrainHard roster, LFO roster (now Wolves Esports), and mantisFPS roster (now SANDBOX Gaming) were allowed to.
Stage 3 of the EUL gets underway on Sep. 12.