Team-LDLC drops Overwatch team, blaming strategic choice of Blizzard Entertainment

The Overwatch exodus continues as Team-LDLC has announced it will be dropping its roster after they failed to impress in the Overwatch Contenders qualifiers. 

In an update to their website entitled “Overwatch, the end of the story”, LDLC outline that the Overwatch players’ contracts have expired at the end of June, and the organisation are not intending to renew them. 

Their team will be releasing into free agency, with players Hugo ‘WoRsS’ Iwonttellu (a pseudonym, hopefully) , Julien ‘Baud’ Robert, Jeremy ‘Hqrdest’ Danton, Richard ‘PiPou’ Buscemi, Simon ‘Chubz’ Vulio, Anthony ‘ythnk’ Danly all now free to ply their trade elsewhere. 

The esports director for Team LDLC, Anthony Rabby, said in a statement: “We were very happy to work on Overwatch since almost a year and we consider ourselves lucky to have met thoses players who brought us so much. We really love Overwatch and we will watch carefully the development of this game.”

“We wish a lot a courage to our former team and we hope they will reach their goals soon.” 

Guillaume ‘KabaL’ Ettori, a french player who was previously attached to Team-LDLC, will be staying on as a staff member, although his role hasn’t been specified in the announcement. 

In the blog post, LDLC allege that while it was partially the results during the Overwatch Contenders, “the strategic choice of Blizzard Entertainment, which don’t help clubs like ours to continue to invest in this game” was a part of the decision too. 

Overwatch’s pro scene is decidedly less star studded recently, after recent months have seen Fnatic, Splyce, Dignitas and Ninjas in Pyjamas drop out of Overwatch in recent months, with Evil Geniuses dropping their Overwatch team earlier this week.