Cloud9 disbands its Dota 2 team

After a poor showing at The International 2015, the Cloud9 Dota 2 team has been officially disbanded. Word of the split came first from Rasmus "Misery" Filipsen, who Gamespresso reports revealed the news during a livestream.

Filipsen didn't go into detail about the breakup, saying only, "I can't say anything more than that. It's for the better, guys." But fellow Cloud9 member Jacky "EternalEnvy" Mao effectively confirmed the news on Twitter, where he posted a link to the Cloud9 Dota 2 poster from The International and wrote, "In memory of the old C9 roster. Please note that any player on the poster may not be in C9 next DotA Year."

Cloud9 had a rough couple of days at The International earlier this month, where it was quickly knocked out of the competition with an 0-2 record. The team fell first to CDEC and then to Vici Gaming in a match Chris Thursten said "felt as if C9 had forgotten that they were up against some of the very best, most coordinated support players in the world."

The breakup of the roster does not mean that Cloud9 is out of Dota 2 for good, however. "Yes, Cloud9 will remain in #Dota2," team owner and manager Jack Etienne tweeted. "I'll miss our old team but I'm excited to create our new squad. TY EE, Misery, Fata, Bone, & BigDaddy!"

The remaining members of the team—Pittner "bOne7" Armand, Adrian "Fata" Trinks, and Johan "BigDaddyN0tail" Sundstein—have not yet publicly commented.

Cloud9 remains one of North America's biggest esports organizations, with teams for CS:GO, League of Legends, Hearthstone, and several other games.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.