Beyond Gaming,
the Taiwanese organization of former professional League of Legends jungler
Xue "DinTer" Hong-Wei, has just
announced that it will cease operations in the
Pacific Championship Series (PCS) following financial struggles and difficulties in finding sponsors. At this time, the team's replacement remains unknown.
Wako, Liang, and Likai posing at the LoL World Championship 2022. Credit: Colin Young-Wolff
Fall From Grace
Once a staple of the Pacific region, Beyond Gaming remains one of the most well-known organizations in the league to this day. Having never missed a playoffs attendance during their four-year tenure in the region, the team has remained a strong contender throughout the past two years, even attending Worlds twice and representing their region internationally.
Opening their operations in 2021, the team first entered the PCS with plenty of noise, as they
acquired the spot of legendary organization
ahq eSports Club, a former Worlds quarterfinalist team. In that same year, although BYG was unable to dethrone PSG Talon, the organization then went on to qualify for the league's finals twice in a row, proving their strength to the local scene by qualifying for Worlds in their first year of operations.
Unfortunately, as the team's official announcement highlighted, the cost of maintaining such results has only increased over time. Though Beyond Gaming's most recent results remain admirable, it has become clear that the organization has been unable to keep up with growing operational costs.
The Death of an Esports Team
Founded with ambitions of changing their local esports ecosystem and with the knowledge of the difficulties of running an organization, Beyond Gaming has achieved great results in its time within the PCS; unfortunately, time has now seemingly caught up with the organization in what feels like an inevitable fate for several non-major esports organizations.
As detailed in the team's announcement, major reasons for the team's demise include: difficulties in finding sponsors, struggles to meet the growing costs of competing at the top, and the deteriorating health of the team's owner, DinTer.
It is safe to say that the infamous "
Esports Winter" has now claimed yet another victim. Characterized by mass layoffs and closure of staple organizations, this phenomenon hasn't ceased to impact the global esports ecosystem in almost all of its disciplines. With this development, the PCS is now losing an important asset to its league and will have to
search for a new contestant to take its spot. As of now, a potential replacement for Beyond Gaming remains unknown.
Header Photo Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
