Today we are announcing the departure of our friend Kim "Heart" Min Hyuk. Heart has been with our gaming family for a year and has contributed immensely to our StarCraft 2 efforts.
We wish him the very best and thank him for his hard work!
[...]
Moving into 2013 we are evaluating our StarCraft 2 plans and investment. It is our goal to remain a supporter of the game while continuing to expand our multi-gaming presence. Stay tuned for updates and thank you for your support.
I guess Ax makes sense since he's living with em :o?
Kinda sucks that coL is parting with their best player in 2012, who got multiple top four finishes at MLGs and made Code S Ro16... Are they giving up on SC2 for good, or are they gonna reload on the big free agents?
On January 10 2013 04:15 Bonkerz wrote: Hmm, is complexity downsizing their sc2 roster for a reason? Ganzi and now this? I wonder if results had anything to do with him being let go.
I don't think results is an issue for heart if I had to guess since he's living with axiom and they're getting a 4th member he decided to join axiom.
Purely NA team now which makes them just about irrelevant internationally, hopefully they find more success in other games as the multigaming organization they are.
Complexity has been slowly trimming away a good portion of their top players. They still have a few players and their academy, but are lacking the power that they had with Heart, Ganzi, and even Gowser.
so many players have left coL lately. how long before they join quantic? all the doom talk seems to have had a very negative effect on some investors. esports fans shot themselves in the foot
On January 10 2013 04:15 Bonkerz wrote: Hmm, is complexity downsizing their sc2 roster for a reason? Ganzi and now this? I wonder if results had anything to do with him being let go.
they had a pretty big roster for a while there, they had to downsize eventually. That said, I liked coLheart guess Axheart sounds cool too....
Complexity has to figure out what they want to do with SC2. They acquired Root gaming but lost most of the key players now. They tried for Stephano but had issues and thus the transfer never occurred. They got Naniwa but let him go over conflicting goals. Then Complexity got four Koreans, all of which have now left the team. Their two most notable players now are QXC and maybe Sasquatch.
wow...coL should be one of the richest organisations in North America, and they pretty much have none that can do anything on an international scale, now that all their Koreans are gone, Goswser has gone to Millenium and Sasquatch will be inactive. I hope they can sign some new players, otherwise they're pretty much dead in the water as far as SC2 goes. Hopefully they can pick up at least the ex-Quantic Americans (State, Illusion and Hawk).
On January 10 2013 04:25 mikkmagro wrote: wow...coL should be one of the richest organisations in North America, and they pretty much have none that can do anything on an international scale, now that all their Koreans are gone, Goswser has gone to Millenium and Sasquatch will be inactive. I hope they can sign some new players, otherwise they're pretty much dead in the water as far as SC2 goes. Hopefully they can pick up at least the ex-Quantic Americans (State, Illusion and Hawk).
O_O I'm still here, I just don't really stream/do anything in the public eye except for stuff like clan wars (which i've been doing pretty well in recently). I'm still playing as much as I usually do (not enough) and plan to keep playing for awhile!
Also, bye heart coL.SC2 isn't going anywhere though so don't worry about that :D
So Quantic and Complexicity is kind of dead in US for SC2, that's sad. For a team who wanted Naniwa and Stephano and said was considered as one of the best team, that's a bit a fail. They should have learn from EG or EU team for their lack of player exposure.
Well, Axiom already hinted at an imminent fourth player recruitment. And since Heart is living together with AxCrank, AxRyung, and AxMiya (as well as AcerMMA), it only makes sense to assume that he will join them.
On January 10 2013 04:25 mikkmagro wrote: wow...coL should be one of the richest organisations in North America, and they pretty much have none that can do anything on an international scale, now that all their Koreans are gone, Goswser has gone to Millenium and Sasquatch will be inactive. I hope they can sign some new players, otherwise they're pretty much dead in the water as far as SC2 goes. Hopefully they can pick up at least the ex-Quantic Americans (State, Illusion and Hawk).
O_O I'm still here, I just don't really stream/do anything in the public eye except for stuff like clan wars (which i've been doing pretty well in recently). I'm still playing as much as I usually do (not enough) and plan to keep playing for awhile!
You just told me on Skype that you were quitting SC2 at the end of the month. So which is it?
On January 10 2013 04:25 mikkmagro wrote: wow...coL should be one of the richest organisations in North America, and they pretty much have none that can do anything on an international scale, now that all their Koreans are gone, Goswser has gone to Millenium and Sasquatch will be inactive. I hope they can sign some new players, otherwise they're pretty much dead in the water as far as SC2 goes. Hopefully they can pick up at least the ex-Quantic Americans (State, Illusion and Hawk).
O_O I'm still here, I just don't really stream/do anything in the public eye except for stuff like clan wars (which i've been doing pretty well in recently). I'm still playing as much as I usually do (not enough) and plan to keep playing for awhile!
You just told me on Skype that you were quitting SC2 at the end of the month. So which is it?
So, this followed by TB's twitter spam. Heart to Axiom? Potentially, following the in-house tournament & friendship with everyone on Axiom. Be an interesting move, though they could use a Protoss...
On January 10 2013 04:11 Serinox wrote: Moving into 2013 we are evaluating our StarCraft 2 plans and investment. It is our goal to remain a supporter of the game while continuing to expand our multi-gaming presence. Stay tuned for updates and thank you for your support.
Reading this portion of the quote from a business-minded perspective is quite worrisome. Generally speaking, the reevaluation of a business segment does not foreshadow positive events for that segment.
On January 10 2013 04:25 mikkmagro wrote: wow...coL should be one of the richest organisations in North America, and they pretty much have none that can do anything on an international scale, now that all their Koreans are gone, Goswser has gone to Millenium and Sasquatch will be inactive. I hope they can sign some new players, otherwise they're pretty much dead in the water as far as SC2 goes. Hopefully they can pick up at least the ex-Quantic Americans (State, Illusion and Hawk).
O_O I'm still here, I just don't really stream/do anything in the public eye except for stuff like clan wars (which i've been doing pretty well in recently). I'm still playing as much as I usually do (not enough) and plan to keep playing for awhile!
You just told me on Skype that you were quitting SC2 at the end of the month. So which is it?
On January 10 2013 04:14 Waxangel wrote: I guess Ax makes sense since he's living with em :o?
Kinda sucks that coL is parting with their best player in 2012, who got multiple top four finishes at MLGs and made Code S Ro16... Are they giving up on SC2 for good, or are they gonna reload on the big free agents?
This would be crushing news for coL if there weren't so many talented free agents still out there. Still, Heart is super underrated and was a beast at MLG's, wish him the best of luck ON AXIOM
On January 10 2013 04:53 ssg wrote: Killer, Nada, Heart, and Ganzi. So much for that competent Korean team.
In all honesty, the Korean free agent market right now is so saturated that it might be better for Complexity to just start over. If Complexity now has money to spend, they could probably grab Polt, Symbol and Supernova and come out as a top team in the foreign scene. Heart's case was more than likely him moving to Axiom where he lives with the team already, but I don't mind Complexity not extending contracts if they are going to fill the roster spots with top end players.
Signing just a single Polt or even Parting won't make Complexity a top foreign team again, but adding three of the top Korean free agents would push them right back towards the top and make these decisions of letting their old Koreans go look amazing.
I expect Complexity to reload better than ever, so let's see what they do. There are a lot of top Koreans on the market and now they should have the funds to grab some.
On January 10 2013 04:25 mikkmagro wrote: wow...coL should be one of the richest organisations in North America, and they pretty much have none that can do anything on an international scale, now that all their Koreans are gone, Goswser has gone to Millenium and Sasquatch will be inactive. I hope they can sign some new players, otherwise they're pretty much dead in the water as far as SC2 goes. Hopefully they can pick up at least the ex-Quantic Americans (State, Illusion and Hawk).
O_O I'm still here, I just don't really stream/do anything in the public eye except for stuff like clan wars (which i've been doing pretty well in recently). I'm still playing as much as I usually do (not enough) and plan to keep playing for awhile!
Also, bye heart coL.SC2 isn't going anywhere though so don't worry about that :D
oh sorry! I thought I read somewhere that you'd be going inactive from 2-4 months to focus on school. My mistake! Hope the rest of the players on coL like qxc, Minigun and TriMaster can improve and get back on track, because I'd hate to see coL step away from SC2.
Looking at the Complexity roster, yes, right now it's actually pretty bad, but I would say that's a great thing if they're going to use the money they saved with no resigning Killer, Ganzi, and Heart and go after guys like Polt, Parting, and Hyun. There are so many top end Korean free agents right now that having extra room on the roster is a good thing.
Heart has some of the best mechanics around for Terran, I just realized how much I missed his streams. Also with a few top 4 mlg placements and a solid run into code, this guy had a pretty good year.
CoL have a really small roster now I wonder if they are going to stay in SC2 or are they just going to pick up more players. I think it would be amazing if they started recruiting players from EU or just became a proper academy team and really push the new talent to the front.
Heart was a good player but he wasnt very popular and it will probably remain that way unless he changes a lot of things. I dont know what Col thinks about SC2 at the moment hopefully they have something big planed. They are a big team in esports but their roster is really lacklustre at the moment.
This leaves coL an opportunity to pick up players they need for their roster right now. Think of all the free agents; Polt, PartinG and HyuN who would gladly take the opportunity to have a foreign team and live in America (especially Polt). I think Heart will join Axiom because of the rumors of a new pick up, and Heart playing in that Axiom HotS tournament.
On January 10 2013 04:25 mikkmagro wrote: wow...coL should be one of the richest organisations in North America, and they pretty much have none that can do anything on an international scale, now that all their Koreans are gone, Goswser has gone to Millenium and Sasquatch will be inactive. I hope they can sign some new players, otherwise they're pretty much dead in the water as far as SC2 goes. Hopefully they can pick up at least the ex-Quantic Americans (State, Illusion and Hawk).
O_O I'm still here, I just don't really stream/do anything in the public eye except for stuff like clan wars (which i've been doing pretty well in recently). I'm still playing as much as I usually do (not enough) and plan to keep playing for awhile!
Also, bye heart coL.SC2 isn't going anywhere though so don't worry about that :D
oh sorry! I thought I read somewhere that you'd be going inactive from 2-4 months to focus on school. My mistake! Hope the rest of the players on coL like qxc, Minigun and TriMaster can improve and get back on track, because I'd hate to see coL step away from SC2.
AK on FXO EU and some other stuff like he mentioned. coL will be around dont worry :D sad about the release tho was together so long ;;
I hope he gets a really good team. It was nice to watch him play because he cheesed people so much, which actually made his macro games stronger when he went for them. I respect his playstyle just as much as I respect the playstyle of a player like FLash.
On January 10 2013 05:29 PhoenixDark wrote: I doubt complexity will have a SC2 team in 6 months
Completely agree. By shedding so many players recently, there's almost a sense that they are heading towards a different direction, probably a different game altogether.
Well then. Have to say, I am glad to see Heart maybe able to branch to a better team. CoL has fallen off a lot because they have been dropping so many good players.
I question Complexitys SC2 strategy, this seems very odd. What is the point in buying and selling players constantly, does that reflect well on the brand? Maybe there are cheaper and better koreans out there right now, maybe Heart was too expensive, but at some point you need to keep players around so that they get associated with the team and the brand.
Does that fancy Complexity house come with a pool, a boat, and revolving doors?
I think a lot of teams will be dropping sc2. The ones that survive will be the powerhouse teams like ST,EGTL etc.
I've noticed that investors are really nit feeling sc2 anymore. No real money to be made.. well at least its been tried and tested and so far not worth it in the long run.
Looks like compexity is giving up on the korean players experiment. I think they were expecting more in terms of personality, exposure and accessibility and didn't get a huge buy in to that from them. They really stress their players promoting their team and sponsors. The cost of the koreans compared to the return complexity was getting from them probably didn't make sense from their point of view. They want results and promotion, but only got results and only modest ones. The korean teams sending their players to as many foreign tournaments as they did probably didn't occue to complexity when they signed them and expected to just sweep. Too bad.
On January 10 2013 06:18 Legio wrote: I question Complexitys SC2 strategy, this seems very odd. What is the point in buying and selling players constantly, does that reflect well on the brand? Maybe there are cheaper and better koreans out there right now, maybe Heart was too expensive, but at some point you need to keep players around so that they get associated with the team and the brand.
Does that fancy Complexity house come with a pool, a boat, and revolving doors?
It has the "Mothership" >.>... You can only imagine how much it cost. It's the truth behind all the players leaving. We have to make up somewhere @_@
Killer left, and then GanZi left. This move makes a lot of sense. Heart shouldn't be on a team where he is the only Korean player. Good luck in your future endeavors Heart!
On January 10 2013 04:53 ssg wrote: Killer, Nada, Heart, and Ganzi. So much for that competent Korean team.
In all honesty, the Korean free agent market right now is so saturated that it might be better for Complexity to just start over. If Complexity now has money to spend, they could probably grab Polt, Symbol and Supernova and come out as a top team in the foreign scene. Heart's case was more than likely him moving to Axiom where he lives with the team already, but I don't mind Complexity not extending contracts if they are going to fill the roster spots with top end players.
Signing just a single Polt or even Parting won't make Complexity a top foreign team again, but adding three of the top Korean free agents would push them right back towards the top and make these decisions of letting their old Koreans go look amazing.
I expect Complexity to reload better than ever, so let's see what they do. There are a lot of top Koreans on the market and now they should have the funds to grab some.
Or they might just invest more into their LoL team that qualified for the Season 3 LA event this weekend.
the strategy of signing mid-tier koreans and fly them to events all over the world just doesn't work anymore, if you aim for tournament wins. Heart has done way better than anyone could seriously expect so I wonder why they did part ways...
The way complexity manages their team is absolutly terrible.. there's no way you can create an emotional bond with that team when they change their whole roster every year. What a shame.
On January 10 2013 06:31 Seeker wrote: Killer left, and then GanZi left. This move makes a lot of sense. Heart shouldn't be on a team where he is the only Korean player. Good luck in your future endeavors Heart!
Not too worried about Heart, Axiom seems imminent and will be a good fit for him.
It's a shame for Complexity though. Last year they signed four Koreans and got almost nothing out of three of them. Nada and Killer were almost a complete waste and Ganzi kept putting up middling results while becoming the punching bag for rising foreigners. So I wasn't too surprised when any of those three left. However, Heart performed. He was given a spotlight and opportunities like he had never had before and he made the most of it. I have to believe that Heart was a good investment for Complexity, otherwise this industry is in real trouble. So hopefully Heart just really wanted to go to Axiom and this isn't about Complexity failing to offer a decent contract.
The SC2 scene really needs more established teams to be in for the long haul building consistent rosters. If Complexity isn't one of them, that's a pretty bad sign for our future.
I think coL are approaching a more multigaming way with core rosters for every game and no participation in sc2 team leagues. So only 1-3 players are needed to remain in the game and keep the community-eyes on the company and sponsors. A broad and costly roster with players like NaDa, Killer, Naniwa, (stephano) etc. didn't seem to pay out.
qxc is quite popular in the US community, maybe another korean for some results and/or an european 'fan-guy' like Dimaga or White-Ra if europe is a target market. But value of the koreans seems to be sinking, good time for negotiations.
After the core roster for EG in the proleague has been founded, i expect the same to happen to them. A broader range of top players to get started and for HotS-entry and then some changes in players who just cost too much.
"I hear coL might be getting someone else soon :o" - TB in the reddit thread about Heart leaving coL.
I reckon that "someone" will be Polt. He wants a US team as he will be studying there . Anyway, the doom merchants can be quiet! It also seems highly likely that Heart will be going to Axiom with TB commenting in that thread and with Heart already living with the other axiom guys.
"Moving into 2013 we are evaluating our StarCraft 2 plans and investment. It is our goal to remain a supporter of the game while continuing to expand our multi-gaming presence. Stay tuned for updates and thank you for your support."
Business-speak for "SC2 didn't turn out to be enough of a cashcow so we're dropping it like everyone did with Quake the last 2 years"?
EPT
Heart
Heart
guess Axheart sounds cool too....
