Ukrainian esports production company and tournament organiser WePlay has announced that it will postpone the WePlay Academy League until the end of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The company noted that the CS:GO league can not take place on the same level as it did before due to the ongoing conflict in the country. As a result, WePlay decided against a new season until the hostilities cease.
The news comes after a postponement of the league indefinitely in October 2022, due to Russian missile strikes against Ukrainian cities. The company announced then that it plans to return to the competition once adequate infrastructure was in place. This, however, did not happen, and considering that the hostilities are still ongoing in the country, WePlay decided that the league will return once the war is over.
The first season of the WePlay Academy League was played in 2021, and the tournament was a success. Academy rosters of notable esports organisations were a part of the tournament, and some notable current CS:GO players played in the tournament prior to joining main rosters. Notable teams that participated in WePlay Academy League’s last season included FURIA, Fnatic, NAVI, OG, ENCE, BIG, NIP and Astralis, among others.
WePlay shared the following statement on the company’s website: “Today, we have to announce that the WePlay Academy League project is on pause until the end of the full-scale war in Ukraine. The experience of the recent seasons has shown that in the present situation, there are no proper conditions that would allow us to hold the next seasons of the tournament to the standard we set since Season 1.
“As before, the safety of our staff and all tournament participants is our top priority. This decision was agreed upon with all participating organisations.”
Since the start of the war, WePlay cut its ties with Russian and Belarusian companies, but also continued operating out of Ukraine. The company notably renewed its partnership with MEGOGO, focusing on sports, and has partnered with the likes of OTK Media and GRID in 2022.
