Team Endpoint has announced that it will no longer be competing in the Gfinity Elite Series, following Gfinty’s decision not to renew the organisation’s franchise contract for 2018.
The decision will see Endpoint drop their Street Fighter V team and although unrelated, Rocket League player Shakahron has also departed the team.
The blog post from Endpoint suggests that the organisation will continue to focus mainly on Rocket League, for which it finished 3rd in the RLRS last season. The ultimate aim for any Rocket League team is to reach the RLCS division and they weren’t far off last season. Endpoint were also crowned the champions of the first season of the Elite Series Rocket League.
With no information yet other than the fact we know the Elite Series has expanded to ten teams, we can expect a new franchise to enter the league at some point soon. Thus far we’ve seen both Vitality and Fnatic pick up spots which are both significant names in the world of esports. Whether it marks a move away from more grassroots UK esports organisations being picked up towards the global elite remains to be seen.
The third season of the Elite Series will see FIFA 18 take the place of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive which although may not be well received by esports purists, certainly will be easier to package and market towards traditional broadcasters. With previous deals with the likes of ESPN, BBC and Eleven this is something that seems a priority from the Gfinity side of things. Simply put, terrorists shooting counter-terrorists is understandably more difficult to sell to broadcasters than the likes of Rocket League and FIFA which are friendly for all ages.
Esports Insider says: As one team leaves, another will likely emerge. It’ll be interesting to see who makes up the full roster of the Elite Series as we head towards Season 3. With Australian expansion as well, Gfinity are a company to keep an eye on for the remainder of the year.