Team Reciprocity become first victim of Coronavirus downturn after dropping Rainbow Six: Siege & Rocket League roster

Team Reciprocity have had to drop their Rainbow Six Siege and Rocket League rosters after running into financial difficulties owing to a downturn in the global financial markets owing to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Chad Larsson, the found of Team Reciprocity, took to Twitter on the evening of 20th March to explain the state of the organization.

In the video, Larsson lays the blame at the current state of the global capital market, which is been severely affected by the Coronavirus pandemic sweeping the world, this has put the organization in an unfortunate financial position, and the decision to downsize to its “bare bones” is effectively its only way to survive. 

He states that while the organization had been building up its funds steadily over the past few months, it only took a few weeks for that to disappear. This has led them to release all their in-house and playing staff which includes their successful Rocket League and Rainbow Six Siege teams.

• Read more: All you need to know about Rainbow Six: Siege’s new “Golden Gun” game mode

The team’s release from the organization was also confirmed by a member of Team Reciprocity’s management on the ‘R6ProLeague’ subreddit, explaining the unfortunate fate of the roster. He also states that while they are upset at the loss of the team, Reciprocity will continue moving forward and push out great content for gaming. 

The team including player Davide "FoxA" Bucci have spoken out on Twitter asking for help in finding a new esport organisation to represent, or else they will end up playing without one, or not at all.

The organization had just taken on two new players at the beginning of March, Khalil "b1ologic" Pleas and Oliver "Slashug" Spencer, in the hopes they would help the team moving forward after a last-place finish at the 2020 Invitational, highlighting how quickly the organisation's plans have changed.

While Victor "Ferra" Francal, a member of the three-man Rocket League roster also confirmed they are looking for a new home.

Team Reciprocity's Rocket League roster is one of the best performing teams in Europe, they topped last season's European RLCS and currently sit in 5th place with one game to go having already secured qualification for the revamped Regional Championship.

This downsizing show's that the esports world is not immune from effects of the global financial downturn brought on by the Coronavirus pandemic, which many professed it was because of the ability to play matches online. But with so many organisations running at a loss, any downward movement in the market will make investors wary of pumping money into a business that has yet to show guaranteed returns.

Team Reciprocity is the first esport organisation to face up to this reality, but they may not be the last.