After a disastrous first season, the Shanghai Dragons have announced they are releasing eight of their 11 pro Overwatch players. The team made the announcement over Twitter this morning.
The team has released the following players: Yage “Altering” Cheng, Peixuan “Freefeel” Xu, Zhaoyu “Fiveking” Chen, Wenhao “Roshan” Jing, Junjie “Xushu” Liu, Gi-hyeon “Ado” Chon, Junjian “Sky” He, and Dae-min “Daemin” Kim.
“The entire SHD crew thank you for your dedications and contributions throughout the first season of the Overwatch League,” the team tweeted.
It’s a pretty significant shakeup to the roster, but not an unexpected one. The Dragons lost game after game during in the inaugural season of the Overwatch League, eventually ending up at 0-40.
That’s despite – or perhaps, partially due to – a brutal 72-hours-per-week training schedule, which team manager Van addressed early in the season in a lengthy statement.
The team isn’t calling it quits though. Last month, the Dragons showed fans their new, high-tech headquarters in Shanghai, which boasts futuristic lighting, a gym, and of course, plenty of Overwatch workstations.
Here’s a peek:
180801 SHD Weibo new update
08월 03일에 상하이드래곤즈연습실 공개 관련 영상이 올라왔는데
이거완전 흑역사각….?https://t.co/aGMHbpszkE pic.twitter.com/hd7wYANeg2— suave⁸ (@ow_suave) August 1, 2018
And here’s the team’s follow-up message for their departing players:
You will always be part of the Dragons family.🐲We wish you best of luck in your future endeavors.❤️
— Shanghai Dragons #TeamPacific (@ShanghaiDragons) September 2, 2018
The Shanghai Dragons were the only Chinese team in the first season of the Overwatch League. In season two, they’ll be joined by a new expansion team based in Guangzhou.