Gen.G

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Gen.G Esports
Gen.G Logo.svg
Full nameGeneration Gaming[1]
Games
FoundedAugust 2017
Based in
Owners, Kent Wakeford
Websitegeng.gg

Gen.G Esports (Korean: 젠지), previously known as KSV Esports, is a professional esports organization with headquarters in Santa Monica, Seoul, and Shanghai. According to Forbes, Gen.G is the sixth most valuable esports organization in the world as of December 2020, worth US$185 million.[2]

History[]

Gen.G Esports was formed in 2017 as KSV eSports by Kevin Chou and Kent Wakeford, co-founders of the video game development company Kabam. The organization started out by acquiring the rights for an Overwatch League franchise in Seoul, South Korea. The purchase reporterdly amounted to $20 million with the intention to hire both an all-Korean roster as well as an all-Korean management staff.[3] This team would later be known as the Seoul Dynasty. On May 3, 2018, KSV eSports announced a rebranding to Gen.G.[4] On January 20, 2020, Gen.G was unveiled to be behind an NBA 2K League franchise called the "Gen.G Tigers of Shanghai", the first franchise to not be affiliated with an NBA team, and the first franchise outside of North America. Along with the announcement, Gen.G announced that itself and the NBA 2K League were working together in a "long-term strategic relationship".[5] On August 27, 2020, Gen.G was announced as one of the 10 selected teams as part of League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) franchising.[6]

Current divisions[]

Overwatch[]

Gen.G Esports' start came with the acquisition of an Overwatch League franchise spot, naming the team the Seoul Dynasty.[7] In the leadup to this announcement, KSV eSports acquired the roster of Lunatic-Hai, on August 21, 2017.[8]

Roster[]

Further information: Seoul Dynasty § Current roster

PUBG: Battlegrounds[]

On November 7, 2017, KSV announced its entrance into the PUBG scene, with the team KSV Asel.[9] Just a few weeks later, on December 7, 2017, KSV added a second team for PUBG, KSV Notitle aka KSV NTT.[10] On August 16, 2018, Gen.G announced the merging of the two teams.[11] The resulting team has proved very successful over the years, winning the first PUBG World Championship - PUBG Global Invitational 2018, the 2019 Global Championship, and placing third at the 2021 PUBG Global Invitational.

Roster[]

Gen.G PUBG roster
Players Coaches
Handle Name Nationality
Pio  Cha Seung-hoon  South Korea 
Inonix  Na Hee-joo  South Korea 
Esther  Go Jeong-wan  South Korea 
Asura  Jo Sang-won  South Korea 
Head coach
  • Bae "WatchinU" Seong-hu
Assistant coach(es)

Kim "Chelator" Min-ki

Legend
  • (I) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • (C) Team captain
  • Substitute player Substitute
  • Injured Injury / Illness

Latest roster transaction: 1 December 2021.

League of Legends[]

The KSV League of Legends team was formed on November 30, 2017, with the acquisition of Samsung's esports division, which included the 2017 World Champions Samsung Galaxy roster.[12] The team, now named Gen.G Esports, would qualify for the 2018 League of Legends World Championship, but would end up being knocked out promptly in the group stage, with a 1–5 record, in a year with a particularly bad showing from the South Korean teams.[13] Due to missing out on the 2019 League of Legends World Championship, the team's next appearance on the world stage would be at the 2020 League of Legends World Championship. Gen.G would make it to the quarter-finals of the 2020 World Championship before being eliminated by G2 Esports.

Roster[]

Gen.G League of Legends roster
Players Coaches
Role Handle Name Nationality
Top  Doran  Choi Hyeon-joon  South Korea 
Jungle  Peanut  Han Wang-ho  South Korea 
Mid  Chovy  Jeong Ji-hoon  South Korea 
Bot  Ruler  Park Jae-hyuk  South Korea 
Support  Lehends  Son Si-woo  South Korea 
Head coach

Go "Score" Dong-bin

Assistant coach(es)

Won "Mafa" Sang-yeon
Kim "Museong" Moo-seong

Legend
  • (I) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Substitute player Substitute
  • Injured Injury / Illness

Roster

NBA 2K[]

On September 26, 2019, the NBA 2K League today announced that Gen.G Esports would launch an NBA 2K League team from Shanghai that will join the other 22 NBA 2K League teams for the 2020 season. Gen.G Tigers of Shanghai was the first NBA 2K League team outside of North America.[14]

Valorant[]

On May 4 entered Valorant with the acquisition of FRENCH CANADIANS.[15] Gen.G would win the first major North American VALORANT, T1 x Nerd Street Gamers Invitational.[16] Gen.G would go on to win an additional 3 tournaments in 2020 - Pittsburgh Knights Tournament Series, Pulse Invitational, and Pittsburgh Knights Before Christmas.

Former division[]

Heroes of the Storm[]

On October 24, 2017, it was announced that KSV acquired the rosters of two South Korean Heroes of the Storm (HOTS) teams - MVP Black and MVP Miracle.[17] On November 28, KSV announced it had to drop the now KSV Miracle roster, due to restrictions from Blizzard.[18] KSV Black/Gen.G roster would go on to win 3 Global Championships (2017 HOTS Global Championship, 2018 HOTS Global Championship Mid-Season Brawl, 2018 HOTS Global Championship) before Blizzard ended HOTS esports in December 2018.[19]

Clash Royale[]

On February 26, 2018, Gen.G announce the founding of the Clash Royale division in the Clash Royale League China with Cheshen, D.King, XiaoK, Little Chen and Winds.[20] Gen.G Esports withdrew from the Clash Royale League on November 4, 2019.[21]

Fortnite[]

On October 25, 2018, Gen.G entered Fortnite by signing an all-female Fortnite team, TINARAES, and maddiesuun.[22][23] In August 2019, Gen.G partnered with dating app Bumble to create an all-female Fortnite team known as "Gen.G Team Bumble".[24][25][26]

TINARAES would become the first female Fortnite player to win a major competitive Fortnite even in 'Twitch Rivals: TwitchCon Fortnite Showdown' with Rhux and Pika.[27] Gen.G would also sign 14 years old, Moqii, who would become the first female Fortnite pro to win a major Epic hosted solo Fortnite event 'European Fortnite Champion Series (FNCS) qualifier'.[28]

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4[]

On January 31, 2019, Gen.G Esports enter Call of Duty with the signing of Team Space featuring Spacely, Maux, MajorManiak, Nagafen, Havok, and Nubzy as coach.[29] Gen.G would also bring on Envoy before CWL Fort Worth 2019.[30] Gen.G would finish CWL Anaheim 2019 in 2nd place [31] and finish 2019 CWL Pro League in 2nd place.[32] Gen.G would then be eliminated in last place in the Call of Duty Championship 2019.[33] Shortly after the CWL Championship 2019 Gen.G released all of their players since Gen.G would not be participating in the new Call of Duty League.[34]

Apex Legends[]

On March 1, 2019, Gen.G Esports entered the Competitive Apex Legends by signing GrimReality, dummy, and silkthread.[35] On November 19, 2019, Gen.G released its Apex Legends roster due to poor performance.[36]

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive[]

On December 6, 2019, Gen.G signed the former core of Cloud9 along with the team's assistant coach.[37] Boston Major winner, Timothy "autimatic" Ta was signed, along with Kenneth "koosta" Suen, Damian "daps" Steele, and Chris "Elmapuddy" Tebbit as head coach. Three days later, Gen.G signed Sam "s0m" Oh after he was released from Team Envy.[38] Hunter "SicK" Mims was also announced as a stand-in for the IEM Katowice 2020 qualifiers until the final slot was filled. On December 22, Gen.G announced the signing Hansel "BnTeT" Ferdinand from top Chinese team to finalize the roster.[39] Gen.G won the only in-person LAN in 2020 (due to COVID-19 pandemic), DreamHack Open Anaheim 2020, without dropping a map and currently remaining undefeated on LAN.[40] Gen.G would also win 2020 ESL One: Road to Rio - North America.[41] The roster was subsequently disbanded in February 2021, when its last member, Timothy "autimatic" Ta, was acquired by T1 in VALORANT.[42][43]

Championships[]

List of Gen.G Championships
League of Legends (2) Heroes of the Storm (3) PUBG: Battlegrounds (2)
  • Global Championship:
  • Global Invitational
  • Global Championship

References[]

  1. ^ Murray, Trent (May 3, 2018). "KSV eSports Rebrands to Gen.G, and Expands into Clash Royale". The Esports Observer. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
  2. ^ Settimi, Christina (December 5, 2020). "The Most Valuable Esports Companies 2020". Forbes. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  3. ^ Takahashi, Dean (July 12, 2017). "Why Kabam cofounder Kevin Chou is diving into esports with Overwatch League's Seoul franchise". VentureBeat.
  4. ^ Takahashi, Dean (May 3, 2018). "KSV Esports rebrands as Gen.G, adds Clash Royale team". VentureBeat.
  5. ^ Lace, Thomas (January 20, 2020). "Gen.G Tigers of Shanghai unveiled for NBA 2K League". Esports Insider.
  6. ^ Jang, David (August 27, 2020). "Riot Games announces 10 preferred teams for the LCK franchising". INVEN Global.
  7. ^ "The Seoul Team of the Overwatch League Announces its Official Name, 'Seoul Dynasty'". Esports Marketing Blog. October 26, 2017.
  8. ^ Rosen, Daniel (August 22, 2017). "KSV signs Lunatic-Hai players to play for Seoul Overwatch League team". The Score Esports.
  9. ^ Gen.G [@GenG] (November 26, 2017). "Support our KSV PUBG Team(AseL)'s new start!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  10. ^ Gen.G Thailand [@Gen_G_THAILAND] (December 7, 2017). "[SCHEDULE] 171208 AfreecaTV PUBG League - Pilot Season 1 รอบคัดเลือก เวลา 09.30 น.(ไทย)" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  11. ^ Geg.G [@GenG] (August 16, 2018). "Regarding Gen.G PUBG roster change for PKL Season 2" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  12. ^ Ji-hye, Shin (December 1, 2017). "Samsung sells off eSports team to KSV". The Korea Herold.
  13. ^ Geracie, Nick (October 20, 2019). "[Worlds 2019] Highlights and Takeaways from the Group Stage". InvenGlobal.
  14. ^ Lace, Thomas (January 20, 2020). "Gen.G Tigers of Shanghai unveiled for NBA 2K League". Esports Insider. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
  15. ^ Castelot, Ophelie (May 4, 2020). "Gen.G Esports Introduces its New Valorant Team".
  16. ^ Alford, Aaron (May 5, 2020). "Gen.G Wins $25,000 Valorant Invitational".
  17. ^ Cooke, Sam (October 24, 2017). "KSV acquires top HotS teams MVP Black and MVP Miracle". esportsinsider.com.
  18. ^ "5. Team Rules And Requirements" (PDF). Blizzard Entertainment. January 1, 2018.
  19. ^ Gera, Emily (December 14, 2018). "Blizzard Is Ending 'Heroes of the Storm' Esports Plans". Variety. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  20. ^ D'Orazio, Nick (May 3, 2018). "It's official: KSV rebrands as Gen.G esports".
  21. ^ Gen.G [@GenG] (November 3, 2019). "Thank you Gen.G Clash Royale" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  22. ^ Takahashi, Dean (October 25, 2018). "Gen.G signs all-female Fortnite esports team".
  23. ^ Kobek, Patrick (September 29, 2019). "Who is Tinaraes? A Fortnite Twitch Rivals MVP Player Profile".
  24. ^ Pei, Annie (August 6, 2019). "Bumble has found its match, striking a deal with an all-women's Fortnite team". CNBC. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
  25. ^ Fitch, Adam (August 6, 2019). "Gen.G partners with Bumble for all-women Fortnite team". Esports Insider. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
  26. ^ "Bumble and Gen. G form first pro all-women 'Fortnite' team". Engadget. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
  27. ^ Kobek, Patrick (September 28, 2019). "Tinaraes, Rhux and Pika Win Twitch Rivals Fortnite!".
  28. ^ Noack, Sven (March 8, 2020). "14-year old Moqii puts her mark on the Fortnite world".
  29. ^ Binkowski, Justin (January 31, 2019). "Gen.G signs SpaceLy's team for the 2019 Call of Duty World League season".
  30. ^ Donigan, Wyatt (March 6, 2019). "Gen.G makes surprising roster change just days before CWL Fort Worth".
  31. ^ Binkowski, Justin (May 16, 2019). "100 Thieves take down Gen.G to win CWL Anaheim 2019".
  32. ^ Byers, Preston (June 21, 2019). "EUnited defeat Gen.G to win 2019 CWL Pro League, break Clayster's 1,400-day championship drought".
  33. ^ Petrosyan, Alber (August 14, 2019). "Gen.G eliminated from CWL Championship 2019".
  34. ^ Byers, Preston (September 6, 2019). "Gen.G confirms it will not participate in inaugural season of franchised Call of Duty league".
  35. ^ "Gen.G Esports picks up Apex Legends team made of former Overwatch pros". March 2, 2019.
  36. ^ Gen.G [@GenG] (November 19, 2019). "Today we part ways with our #GenGApex team" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  37. ^ Burazin, Zvonimir (December 6, 2019). "Gen.G sign autimatic, daps, koosta". HLTV.org. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
  38. ^ "Gen.G confirm s0m signing". HLTV.org. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  39. ^ "Gen.G confirm BnTeT signing". HLTV.org. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  40. ^ Biazzi, Leonardo (February 24, 2020). "Gen.G win DreamHack Open Anaheim without dropping a single map".
  41. ^ Cryptte (May 12, 2020). "Gen.G win ESL One: Road to Rio - North America".
  42. ^ Rutledge, Caroline (December 15, 2020). "Gen.G Esports Places Entire CS:GO Roster Up For Transfer".
  43. ^ "T1 lands autimatic to help reworked roster". Reuters. Field Level Media. February 4, 2021.
  44. ^ Prell, Sam (October 19, 2014). "Samsung White wins League 2014 World Championship". Engadget. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
  45. ^ Goslin, Austen (November 4, 2017). "Samsung Galaxy wins the 2017 League of Legends World Championships". Rift Herald. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
  46. ^ Cooke, Sam (October 24, 2017). "KSV acquires top HotS teams MVP Black and MVP Miracle". Esports Insider. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
  47. ^ Chen, Amy (June 19, 2018). "Heroes of the Storm: The Epic HGC Mid-Season Recap". Comics Gaming Magazine. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  48. ^ Rizzo, Tim (November 3, 2018). "Gen.G Esports becomes first back-to-back HGC world champion". Inven Global. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  49. ^ Newell, Adam (July 26, 2018). "Gen. G Gold take the TPP title at the PUBG Global Invitational 2018". Dot Esports. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  50. ^ Asuncion, Joseph (November 26, 2019). "Gen.G Esports wins the PUBG Global Championship 2019". One Esports. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
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