![]() ![]() It was everything I thought it was going to be, and even more.”īut despite Fruity feeling like he had the keys to the Ferrari, Team Liquid Rocket League did not shoot off of the starting line. “I see it as Ferrari in Formula 1,” Fruity tells, “every racing driver always has the dream of driving for Ferrari, and I think for a lot of esports players, that’s Team Liquid. For the roster, being on Liquid represented its own breakthrough. The trio had reached the finals of the Eurocup 10K offseason tournament just prior to getting signed and were putting on a good show against the best teams in Europe amidst COVID struggles. He’s such a goof, and I think a lot of people could learn a lot from him.” I wish he was more public, cause he’s such a funny guy. I think he’s one of the most unique characters. It made me more motivated, and I was really interested to hear his perspective, and to learn how Kuxir works. Years down the line, you end up with a player like Kuxir… I think everyone would get a little star-struck, me included, but in a good way. “We were nobodies at that time, and Kuxir was a world champion. “I knew Speed from way back when we used to team on The Bricks in 2018,” Fruity said. Liquid entered the esport with a bang - signing Emil "fruity" Moselund and Jack "Speed" Packwood-Clarke, two of Europe’s notable players, as well as world champion Francesco "kuxir97" Cinquemani. The new opportunity of the modern circuit was just the push Liquid needed. Team Liquid had been looking at Rocket League for a while, many in the org already taken by the game’s speed, spectacle, and community. We would like to thank the Liquid community for rallying around our Rocket League squad through good and bad times, the many talented people on our broadcast for helping create that community, and every player and coach who competed under our banner for making it all possible.Īfter nine seasons of RLCS league play, Rocket League Esports stepped into the modern era in 2020, with Regionals, Majors, and an expanded World Championships. On top of that, we’ve composed a handful of letters to the community from former Liquid Rocket League staff. We’ve worked with Rocket League writer and journalist Jens Koornstra to put together a history of our team, featuring interviews from former player Fruity, former manager Lukasz, and broadcast manager Zach Shaner. In the meantime, we want to reflect on our time in Rocket League and everything our rosters - and our community - accomplished. So, consider this a “farewell for now,” because when the time is right, when the team is right, when the ecosystem is right, we would love to come back and do even better. However, market conditions as well as the lack of strong digital items or strong RLCS sponsors made this path much harder to follow. We geared up our coverage towards the end - and even looked at bringing in staff dedicated to Rocket League content. We had a strong roster and struggled to match them with strong content and coverage. We also acknowledge that, as an organization, we could have done more to live up to our own potential. And we hope we can return one day, once it starts getting realized. Within the community, the audience, and the game itself, we still see potential. Rocket League is a beautiful, skill-expressive game full of deeply invested players and fans. Esports is a business of passion, and Rocket League has plenty. However, there is a silver lining - and a path to a return for Team Liquid. ![]() Despite having a successful and popular team, in a very popular esport, Rocket League provided us less revenue than esports that are smaller in size. Right now, we see the esport as “win or bust.” The current ecosystem lacks the sponsorship and digital item revenue needed to let a team build off of fandom, content, and community. While we could have stayed had we landed a better roster, we also believe that this is a weakness in Rocket League’s current model. But we fell short of that this offseason, so you won’t see us on the starting line this year. ![]() Were we able to keep our roster or sign one that matched its caliber, we very likely would have stayed in Rocket League. The simplified explanation is that we feel the current RLCS is an esport where a team needs to win in order to survive. But in the end, our roster had nothing to do with our departure. But for some of our audience, this may come as a shock because, in the past year, we put together a true contender of a team and we were enormously proud of their performance. For the scene insiders, our silence during the offseason wrote this on the wall. Today Team Liquid is saying goodbye to the Rocket League Championship Series and Rocket League esports (though, hopefully not forever). ![]()
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