Splyce is missing out on some of the best times for Rocket League as an Esport.

Photo Credit: (Splyce)

Despite community speculation hinting that Splyce would pick up The Peeps to complement star player Jamie “Karma” Bickford, the roster has decided to drop their roster of Karma, Jake “JWismont” Wismont, and Trevor “Dudewiththenose” Hannah. While the team was relegated in Season 7, Splyce had plenty of options to upgrade the roster and return to the top flight of the RLCS in the future.

Roster’s performance

Splyce’s involvement with Rocket League was originally limited to sponsoring Karma as a Twitch streamer, but eventually the org fully invested into competitive teams as she performed well in 3v3 competition. At the end of RLCS Season 6 Splyce placed first in the RLRS and were able to win in the relegation series to be placed into RLCS Season 7.

Upon being placed into the RLCS, Splyce were a part of the first series of esports in game content that Psyonix released for sale into their esports shop. Splyce fans could buy decals for cars like the Octane and Dominus and items such as wheels and a player banner so that they could flex in matchmaking. For every sale, Psyonix would split revenue with Splyce giving the org a new revenue stream from their venture.

Unfortunately, Splyce went 1-6 in the RLCS winning maps only against Spacestation Gaming and Ghost Gaming adding up to a -15 map differential. Splyce were much more competitive in the relegation series as they lost their opener 3-4 against Birds and the Bees, beat fellow RLCS squad Evil Geniuses 4-2, but were unable to overcome the Birds and the Bees in their final relegation match.

While the team follows the usual lifespan of a RLRS team in the RLCS, it does not have to be this way. Rogue for example overhauled their roster with RLRS talent and have vaulted in the power rankings because of it. Splyce could have rebuilt around either Karma or prolific goalie Dudewiththenose, but decided it was not worth it. Why?

Splyce’s exit

Splyce has had a history of leaving high profile esports after a roster turns sour. The best example to highlight would be exiting CS:GO after peaking with a major appearance in 2016. While you would love for Splyce to embrace the ups and downs of Rocket League, for an organization such as Splyce, optimization is the name of the game.

For Splyce to stay in the RLCS and justify spending between $15 to 30,000 a month on salaries plus travel costs, they would want to expect results that would recoup some of those costs. Unfortunately, the Splyce roster was not RLCS material, but Splyce should have worked to improve the roster instead of dropping the project all together. The roster had a good bit of fans and the right rebuild would have been able to produce results similar to what Rogue was able to accomplish. The depth of talent in the RLRS is unbelievable, but it feels that is spread a little too thin.

Splyce could have picked from the best of North America’s second tier and worked toward building a contender, but they decided to take the lazy, cheap way out with an exit. While all three players would be best served to continue as an unit because of their RLRS spot, I would not be surprised if we see some departures for greener pastures in the upcoming Rocket League rostermania.

Do you think Splyce should have stayed in Rocket League? Comment below your thoughts!﻿

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