Cloud9 announces cuts across multiple esports divisions

Cloud9 has announced that it has let go of multiple streamers, players, and staff across Hearthstone, TFT, and Overwatch.

Cloud9 has announced that it has parted ways with multiple players and streamers on its Hearthstone and TFT teams. The North American organization seems to be the next esports company to downsize as it looks to streamline its operation into more profitable titles.

The organization announced on November 15 that it had let go of five players from its Hearthstone team. Cloud9 joined the esport in 2014 and does not currently have a team or players listed in the game on its website. The Blizzard card game is not as popular as it once was, and the esport has seen declining viewership over the past few years.

At the start of 2023, Blizzard announced that some of its tournaments would no longer feature prize pools, which was probably a major factor in Cloud9 dropping most of its roster.

Cloud9 also announced the departure of two streamers from its brand, including ‘gh0st’ and former Dota 2 player Wehsing ‘SingSing’ Yuen.

Cloud9 lets go of multiple people across esports division

The last two departures from Cloud9 include Teamfigtht Tactics player Michael ‘k3soju’ Zhang and longtime Overwatch and Valorant team manager Ysabel Muller.

The posts about these two departures do not specify whether they were let go by Cloud9 in the middle of their contracts, or if their contracts expired and the company declined to pick them up.

It's been 4 years with countless hours of pivots, creep deaths, high rolls, and of course, blaming Mortdog

With heavy hearts, today marks the last day of C9 @k3soju

You've always been an incredible player and will no doubt continue to be. We meant it – Set 10 is yours. 💙 pic.twitter.com/vkAhyxOLuR

— Cloud9 (@Cloud9) November 17, 2023

Cloud9 released its entire Overwatch League roster, the London Spitfire, on October 30, days before the league’s franchise teams voted to exit and end the competition.

With the departure of k3soju, Cloud9 only has one TFT player left on its roster in Juan ‘Judite’ Freitas, according to Liquipedia.

The organization already went through two rounds of layoffs at the start of the year – however, those impacted at the time were mostly a part of the video and production teams.

Cloud9 CEO Jack Etienne said at the time that the company was “in a great place financially,” and that he wanted to keep it that way by controlling costs while sponsorship dollars were drying up.