LDLC out of Overwatch: “Blizzard doesn’t help clubs like ours”

European esports organization Team-LDLC will drop its Overwatch squad following disappointing results in the Overwatch Contenders qualifiers. An update posted to LDLC’s website states that the Overwatch players’ contracts expired at the end of June and will not be renewed.

While the team’s lackluster results play a part in the decision, LDLC also considered the perceived lack of support from Blizzard. “Our results during the Overwatch Contenders and the strategic choice of Blizzard Entertainment, which don’t [sic] help clubs like ours to continue to invest in this game, make us [sic] decide to stop the story.”

The team, which consisted of five French players and one Belgium player, will be released into free agency.

“We were very happy to work on Overwatch since almost a year and we consider ourselves lucky to have met those players who brought us so much,” former LDLC player Guillaume “KabaL” Ettori said in a statement. “We really love Overwatch and we will watch carefully the development of this game.”

KabaL will remain part of the LDLC staff, according to the statement.

LDLC is better known for its Counter-Strike teams, which have seen immense success over the past few years. The organization also sponsors players from FIFA 17, League of Legends, and StarCraft 2.

Though reasons vary, the former LDLC players are the latest in a string of Overwatch squads to be dropped from esports organizations. Earlier in July, North American esports organization Evil Geniuses dropped its Overwatch team after signing them for only two months. Before that, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Fnatic, Spylce, and Team Dignitas also opted out of Overwatch.