C9 CEO defends dropping Fortnite's Chap and Vivid, claims players failed "across a range of metrics"

Cloud9's CEO, Jack Etienne, has defended the organisations handling of their Fortnite roster claiming that the releasing of Noah "Vivid" Wright and Ryan "Chap" Chaplo was justified as the players had failed "across a range of metrics including but not limited to competitive performance."

The comments were made in a thread discussing the pair's departure on the Cloud9 subreddit.

"These drops may appear random but thee [sic] were carefully considered decisions," wrote Etienne. "These players were released after falling short across a range of metrics including but not limited to competitive performance. We wish them the best in the future."

The decision to drop two of the most prominent Fortnite players shocked many, not least because it came just three months after the pair had been picked up and with only one Fortnite Championship Series in that time.

Chap is a longstanding member of the Fortnite pro community. (Picture: FortniteIntel)

Their handling of the two's departure threw light on the organisation's haphazard approach to Fortnite talent, with former Cloud9 alumni sharing their stories of, at best, poor communication and leadership, and at worse blatant disregarded for their players.

Christian "Criz" Rizk spoke about his team on Cloud9 in the latter half of 2018, claiming that he soon found out that the organisation had signed two separate teams with players having no idea of the other.

"Member that time Cloud9 signed 2 Fortnite teams, but they didn't tell either one about the other one until after they signed for 3 years?" Tweeted Criz.

Member that time Cloud9 signed 2 Fortnite teams, but they didn't tell either one about the other one until after they signed for 3 years? I member

— Criz (@CrizFN) January 2, 2021

When we signed, we were never told there was another team already signed. We only found out when we joined the Slack, and saw them in there.

— Criz (@CrizFN) January 2, 2021

His Tweet became a sounding board for ex-Cloud9 players to chime in with their experiences with the org.

Brennan "Boss" Amiott, who was at C9 when Criz was, recounted a time the organisation kicked one of their teammates but failed to communicate the decision to the other players.

"Remember when they released one of our teammates and left us in silence about for 3 weeks lol," tweeted Boss.

Few can begrudge an organisation dropping underperforming players, but Cloud9's decision to drop Vivid and Chap three months into a multi-year contract looks particularly harsh considering the time they were at the organisation, and the little notice they were given of their departures.

Both left Team Liquid in August of last year as some of the hottest properties in North American Fortnite, Chap, in particular, is still one of the biggest Fortnite streamers in the world and reportedly turned down a contract with FaZe Clan to sign with Cloud9 with the latter offering 80% more.

For Vivid his exit has moved him to bring an end to his professional Fortnite career, without an organisation backed guaranteed income, that life isn't for him announcing his retirement in a Twitlonger.

Cloud9 have three remaining players on their roster, Canadian's "Avery" and "nosh" and the US' Alex "Fryst" Radziwill De Barba.