The Russian esports team Virtus.pro is successful in DOTA 2, but now it faces serious problems: A player was released because he drew a symbol on the mini-map that the Steam operator Valve assumed supported Russia’s war in Ukraine. A coach was fired due to poor results. Now the CEO is gone, who was known as “the genius.”
What kind of team is this?
- Virtus.pro is one of the best teams in DOTA 2 and one of the most successful esports teams in the world in terms of prize money won. At the most important and lucrative tournament in 2021, The International 10, the team narrowly missed the semifinals.
- Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine by Russia, Virtus.pro has been under scrutiny, as a Russian oligarch invested $100 million in the team in 2015. Thus, ESL excluded the Russian team from the “Pro League”: The players competed under the name “Outriders.” The team complained about a “Cancel Culture.”
- Now the team faces serious problems, as not only a player and a coach have left, but also the CEO. Some even suspect that the entire roster could be released in order to start anew.
Russian team disqualified due to “Z”
Why did the player leave? Virtus Pro has released the Russian pro “Pure” who caused the team’s disqualification at a major. The player drew a “Z” on the mini-map during a break. This was interpreted as a sign that he supports Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Virtus.pro did complain about Valve’s decision and found it too harsh, yet they still released Pure.
The player himself said it was not meant that way. He was just doodling.
Who left next? Just a few days later, Virtus.pro released coach Anatoly “boolk” Invanov, who had only achieved “unsatisfactory results” during his time as a coach. He had been with the team since 2020.
CEO led Virtus.pro in the $$$-Olympics of esports teams
Who left now? On May 5, it was announced that CEO Sergey Glamada would leave the team. He was known as “The Genius” and had led the team’s fortunes since January 2020. In his farewell post, the team emphasized that the CEO had led Virtus.pro into the top 5 of the “highest prize money” teams worldwide with +$4.4 million.
Instead of a CEO overseeing all esports teams, now “Senior Managers” from the parent company ESforce will individually oversee each team.
Virtus.pro has not commented on the specific reasons for the leadership change. However, it is said that a number of “new challenges” have arisen that need to be addressed.
– Ukraine Live Blog (via Zeit)
– War in Ukraine (via nzz)
– Solidarity with Ukraine (via foreign-office)
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Current rumors say: There are rumors that one of the last remaining players from the roster of The International 10 wants to leave the team. It is said that Danil “gpk” Skutin could head towards Europe.
The site Dotesports quotes the coach of the DOTA 2 team Mind Games, who says that it seems to him like the team is completely breaking apart and then building something new. He does not see how Virtus.pro can continue without gpk.
What’s behind this: Russian esports teams and game developers like the makers of Escape from Tarkov are currently in an impossible situation. Their Western fans expect them to clearly dissociate themselves from Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. However, if they do, they likely endanger their lives.
This creates a highly sensitive tension.
The war in Ukraine repeatedly touches on issues related to gaming:
