Prominent esports org Echo Fox disbands after tumultuous year

Sarah LeBoeuf
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Capping off a year of legal disputes, racism accusations, and contract terminations, Echo Fox's investors confirmed to Win.gg that the esports organization has disbanded for good.

Just shy of four years after its founding, esports organization Echo Fox has reportedly shut down for good. Speaking with Win.gg, a spokesperson for investors confirmed the news, stating, “There is no Echo Fox. It's gone.”

The news comes just weeks after founder Rick Fox left the company amidst a flurry of legal drama. To recap: following accusations of racist hate speech from an Echo Fox shareholder earlier this year, the organization was forced to leave the League of Legends Championship Series in July. The following month, Echo Fox terminated its League of Legends players’ contracts, while its partners filed a restraining order against Fox for “willful, wanton, and intentionally destructive efforts towards the partnership.” Fox countersued, the matter was settled out of court, and the former NBA star made good on his threats from months earlier and left the organization.

While it was once a premier organization in the fast-growing esports industry (expected to reach $1 billion this year), the chaotic year has permanently marred Echo Fox’s reputation, and now it appears that there will be no comeback. The org’s Twitter account hasn’t posted a new tweet since early September, and the Echo Fox website is full of dead links to pages that no longer exist.

“All the players were let go. The staff was terminated,” the spokesperson confirmed to Win.gg. “The logo and uniform, they're now a collector’s item.”

With Echo Fox’s players now free agents, there’s a lot of esports talent out there just waiting to be scooped up by a new team. As for Rick Fox, he’s planning to stay in esports. Last month, Newsweek reported that the beleaguered franchise owner was starting a new organization, Twin Galaxies International, with former Echo Fox President Jace Hall. Echo Fox hasn’t yet released an official statement, but we’ll update if that changes.

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Sarah LeBoeuf is a freelance writer and editor with over a decade of experience in games media. When not writing about video games or playing video games, you can find her drinking obscene amounts of coffee, snuggling her cat, planning her next trip to Disney World, or starting fights on Twitter @sarahthebeef.