One of the most popular organizations in esports has decided to temporarily pull out of Fortnite: Battle Royale.
OpTic Gaming has released Kenneth “Baldy” Anderson and Stephen “Gunfly” Brown, the players announced separately via Twitter. Baldy and Gunfly were the final two players from OpTic’s Fortnite esports roster, meaning the organization has effectively left the Fortnite scene for the time being. Baldy and Gunfly’s releases also come less than two months after Marco “Marz” Soto and Dade “Dramas” Lesch left OpTic.
After the players announced their free agency, Infinite Esports and Entertainment esports director Kodiak Shroyer revealed on Reddit that the players had approached management about playing with different duo partners. Infinite apparently considered signing new players for both Baldy and Gunfly to play with, but “there would have been some complications,” according to Shroyer, who said a player was already signed to another organization.
Instead of signing players or attempting to help the struggling pair, Shroyer said Infinite released Baldy and Gunfly on good terms. Shroyer said OpTic will “continue to keep a watch on the scene and rising talent,” but it has no players to field in events now.
Since first teaming in September, Baldy and Gunfly have failed to find their footing in the competitive scene. While they proved to be talented and secured spots in major events, most notably the Fall Skirmish finals at TwitchCon, they came away with lackluster finishes each time.
At TwitchCon, the duo finished 50th in the finals. Their UMG Legion Sunday Showdown performances also left something to be desired as the pair finished outside of the top four each time. And lastly, the duo placed 38th at the $100,000 WSOE 3 event in December.
With tournament experience against some of the world’s best, neither Baldy nor Gunfly should have too much trouble finding a new organization to represent. OpTic likely won’t have any trouble finding new players either.
