In early October, Riot Games announced the exclusion of the team Bleed Esports from the international league and promoted BOOM Esports, which finished second in the Ascension tournament. BOOM Esports CEO Gary Ongko shared details about this event in a podcast on the platform X (formerly Twitter).

When the exclusion of Bleed Esports was announced, players like crazyguy noted that they learned about it just 30 minutes before the official statement. Gary Ongko confirmed that he received notification from Riot Games on the same day: “I agreed with the decision that was announced this morning” he stated, emphasizing that he received the information simultaneously with the players from Bleed Esports.

Ongko also mentioned that Riot Games asked the teams to retain their rosters for a while after the tournament ended, in case the winner did not pass the verification. He added, “Last year, when we finished 4th in Ascension, we were also asked to keep our roster”. On the day of the notification, he sent a message to his players saying, “Good morning, franchise players” informing them of the situation.

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Furthermore, the CEO reported that before confirming their participation in the league, one of the players received an offer from a European league. However, even if the team couldn’t be promoted this year, they intended to continue participating in the Challenger next season.

BOOM Esports was founded in 2017 and has since gained significant popularity in Indonesia, boasting over 300,000 followers on Instagram. The team is actively involved in various games, including CS, Dota 2, and PUBG Mobile, achieving international success with approximately $1.5 million earned in Dota 2 tournaments. The team entered Valorant in 2020 and won the VCT 2022 APAC LCQ in 2022, qualifying for VALORANT Champions 2022. Since the inception of the international league, BOOM Esports has secured victories in the Indonesian championships in 2023 and 2024, finishing 4th in Ascension last year and 2nd this year.