100 Thieves was one of the earliest organizations to invest in Apex Legends, having signed its first player within two weeks of the game’s global release. But longtime fans will be disappointed to hear the org’s latest decision concerning its ALGS involvement.
100T senior vice president Jacob “Maelk” Anderson announced that while the organization had initially scouted a team for the 2024 season of the Apex Legends Global Series, the organization has officially decided to withdraw from the competitive scene. Maelk explained in his announcement post that 100T’s current focus is making each of their titles break even when choosing which competitive scene to invest into, and how he was not satisfied with the current structure of the ALGS, a sentiment shared by many other organizations that also withdrew in previous years.
The last 100T roster massively disappointed at the Year Three Championship, where the team was eliminated in the Groups Stage in 40th place, the lowest out of all teams in the event. The entire team was dropped, leading fans to wonder who would be the new 100T representatives in the upcoming season.
Many fans speculated that 100 Thieves would pick up The Dojo, a breakout NA Challenger Circuit team comprised of famous content creators and pros iiTzTimmy, Dezignful, and Enemy. The Dojo would not only win the NA Last Chance Qualifier but stun the entire world with a fourth-place Finals performance, earning a direct invite to the Year Four Pro League for their efforts, making them a clear choice for 100 Thieves to pick up for their next year.
100 Thieves is not alone in its decision to pull out of the Pro League, as multiple organizations across all regions have withdrawn for similar reasons. In Team Liquid’s ALGS release post, CEO Steve Arhancet said the lack of support for the ALGS teams from the devs was a major reason for the org’s decision to leave the competitive scene, despite being one of the earliest investors in Apex’s future and picking up a team one month after the game’s initial release.
The absence of 100 Thieves from the ALGS raises many questions for the future, especially in North America. Out of the 22 invited teams to the NA Pro League, 10 teams are unsigned rosters, consisting of free agents or teams dropped since the last Championship.
Notable unsigned teams include Dudes Night Out, who formerly played for Disguised, the NRG core of sweetdreams and nafen, who retain their spot after their org also left the competitive scene for investment reasons. Ex-100 Thieves members Alex “scuwry” Scala and Alan “Vaxlon” Gonzalez also hold onto their Pro League spots with unsigned rosters SKRT and Already There, respectively.
Year Four of the ALGS will return on Jan. 20, 2024, with the Preseason Qualifiers running until Dec. 18, which will decide the 30 teams participating in each Pro League. Fans can only hope for no more organizations to drop their Apex rosters leading up to Split One.
Published: Nov 28, 2023 06:08 pm