In a somewhat unprecedented move the Echo Fox organisation has told all of its CS:GO players that they are free to pursue opportunities with other teams if they so wish. Two players have taken up the offer.
"Echo Fox remains committed to its players’ futures — supporting opportunity both inside our organization as well as outside the org," said the Echo Fox organisation in a statement on Twitter. It is in that spirit in which we have recently granted the option for members of our CS:GO team to explore other organizational options if they desire, as Echo Fox continues to make important environmental and structural changes that keep building towards a world-class winning CS:GO team in 2017.”
Following the release of the statement multiple members of the Echo Fox CS:GO team responded publicly. Both Shahzeb "ShahZam" Khan and Ronny "ryx" Bylicki tweeted that they would be leaving the team while Ryan "Freakazoid" Abadir said he would not be leaving the organisation.
Team captain Sean Gares released a Tweet that read: Thanks to @echofoxgg for the experiences throughout the last 10 months! I’m going to take a few days to reflect and decide my future!”
The final member of the team, Daniel "roca" Gustaferri, released the following tweet although it is currently unclear if he will be staying with the team in 2017. no matter what; appreciate all @echofoxgg has done for me. thank you for everything. hoping to figure my plans out soon! Hugs4everyone,” said roca.
It is rare to see organisations publicly give their players the option to leave if they wish, however after a fairly disappointing few months it is not so surprising that the organisation is looking to make changes to the team. The current roster has not managed to place highly at any major LAN events, with its biggest paydays coming from finishing in the bottom half of both ELEAGUE seasons.
Echo Fox is of course the organization founded and ran by NBA legend Rick Fox. While they haven’t found massive success just yet they have been a stable organisation with multiple teams competing at the highest level.