Chad Larsson, the owner and founder of Team Reciprocity, has shared a somber update on the bleak future facing the esports organization with fans.
Reciprocity was founded in 2017 and fielded teams in multiple esports titles like Apex Legends, Call of Duty, Gears of War, Rainbow Six Siege and more over the last few years, but had been steadily letting teams go in the weeks leading up to Larsson’s announcement.
The founder and owner of the org claimed Reciprocity would be taking a “bare bones” approach in an attempt at long-term survival to make it through the current economic downturn.
Reciprocity disbanded their CoD team following the 2019 CWL Pro League.[ad name=”article1″]
Larsson said in the video that Reciprocity’s funding from donors had basically dried up in the last few months, with the world’s economy not in its best shape.
“We were raising interim financing, this financing has since dissolved given the astronomical crash on the global capital markets,” the owner explained. “This has positioned Reciprocity to scale down to bare bones in order to survive long-term, the current market conditions.”
It only took a matter of weeks, Larsson said, for everything that he and his team had done to build the Reciprocity brand to disappear.
“What my team and I have built over the last couple of years, literally pouring blood sweat and tears into this since inception, is being dismantled in a matter of weeks,” he continued. “We will be releasing all staff, and scaling down to our Crossfire franchise and our co-ownership with Ranbow7 [LoL].”
Important announcement regarding the future of Reciprocity. pic.twitter.com/iYETHG88Ct
— Chad Larsson (@ChadLarsson) March 20, 2020
[ad name=”article2″]
While the organization will continue to attempt to raise funds, the owner apologized to all the fans and players who had supported them through the years, but promised that this isn’t the end for Reciprocity.
One of the most disappointing results from the news is that Reciprocity’s Rainbow 6 team, which was considered one of the best in North America, is officially being let go.
Team Reciprocity’s Rainbow Six squad was one of the best in North America in 2019, but now all the players will be looking for new homes in 2020.[ad name=”article3″]
Reciprocity is the first big-name esports org to feel the pressure from the current economic situation, but the way they raise money isn’t unique at all, so we could be seeing more organizations making similar announcements in the future.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pbHXnqmtp16YvK57xKynqKqkqHy1scCmZKudk569s7vCoquyZZ%2Bsu6a%2BjKucr52RocBursuemKRllqrBtr7EZqafZZ%2BntG61zWacpqeknryvrctmpJ6ro5a0pnmQbGtsb2RufA%3D%3D