"It breaks my heart to leave" says M80 CEO Marco as team departs VALORANT

M80, one of the biggest faces in tier-two North American VALORANT, are set to depart the scene, as announced by Founder and CEO Marco Mereu on X. The organization was not selected by Riot Games as one of the 8 partner teams in the 2027-2028 VCT Americas cycle. This decision has prompted M80 to leave VCT, citing the lack of financial perks compared to the partner teams and competitive integrity.

It is the end of a 3-year run for M80 in VALORANT esports, having assembled incredibly strong tier-two rosters that barely missed out on ascending to VCT Americas on two different occasions during the franchising era. The team has developed plenty of recognizable talents over the years, including Mohamed "johnqt" Amine Ouarid, GianFranco "koalanoob" Potestio, and Daniel "eeiu" Vucenovic.

Ever since M80 entered VALORANT esports in 2023, the organization has been one of the most dominant forces in tier-two NA. The team made it to the Ascension tournament in 2023 and 2024, but both ended in heartbreak as they could not make the final push to be a part of tier-one Americas until 2026, when they finally managed to qualify for the VCT Americas Stage 2 Play-Ins. The organization was praised for being committed to the scene and providing a home for veteran talents that fell out of favor in Tier 1 while bringing in hyped prospects from the grassroots level. This formula often brought them success.

With M80 now being denied a partnership slot in the 2027-2028 cycle, CEO Marco detailed the financial constraints to be a big reason for the organization’s exit from VALORANT stating:

His second concern was that partner teams would be able to negotiate and acquire talent from non-partner teams much easier. This sentiment was echoed by Shopify Rebellion co-owner and popular streamer Ludwig Ahgren, whose organization also failed to secure a partnership slot. Ultimately, these reasons ended up being the deciding factors for M80 to bow out of VALORANT esports, following in the footsteps of Global Esports, RIDDLE, FOKUS, and S8UL Esports.