Newbee acquires Forward Gaming Dota 2 team

Chinese organisation Forward Gaming has acquired the Dota 2 team formerly of Forward Gaming, who shut up shop on Sunday, July 21. The American organisation cited financial difficulties in a transparent blog post on their website, explaining that they were unable to cover players' salaries as well as $36,000 worth of prize money.

Though it's odd to do this right before a $30m plus tournament, the biggest in esports history, the team did not have to wait long to find a new home, with previous The International winners and five-time attendees Newbee stepping up to the plate.

https://twitter.com/newbeecn/status/1154201903015686144

"We would like to thank the players, coach and manager for putting their trust in Newbee and we wish them the best of luck💙.

Newbee The International 2019 Lineup:

• Yawar ”YawaR” Hassan
• Quinn ”CCnC” Callahan
• Jingjun ”Sneyking” Wu
• Arif “MSS-” Anwar
• Johan “pieliedie” Åström
• Coach: Kurtis ”Aui_2000” Ling
• Manager: Jack ”KBBQ” Chen"

Though Newbee did already have a team, they failed to qualify for The International, hence why they have made this acquisition of the former Forward Gaming roster. It is not yet clear whether Newbee has released the contracts of the 2017 TI grand finalists, though it's unlikely. The more likely scenario is simply that the team will represent Newbee at TI9 only.

With The International taking place in Shanghai this year, it's likely YawaR and co. will head out to China early to use Newbee's facilities so as to bootcamp and perfect their game before the big event.