Over the Christmas festivities, one of many largest esports and content material organizations on the planet appeared to fully crumble. FaZe Clan waved goodbye to its creators which have dominated Twitch for the final two years, and firm stalwarts who’ve been round for nicely over a decade. However what really occurred, and the way are FaZe’s esports operations going to be affected?
In July 2025, Ricky “Banks” Bengtson stepped down from his function as CEO of FaZe Clan, amid crypto rip-off allegations.
Then, in September, founder Thomas “Temperrr” Oliveira left the group, following sexual misconduct accusations in opposition to a minor from former FaZe star Nordan “Rain” Shat.
Whereas none of this appears significantly related to the subject at hand, it’s clear that there was critical discontentment and disillusion in FaZe Clan for some months now – and that got here to a head on Christmas Day.
All FaZe Clan Creators Go away
Throughout Christmas, virtually each main creator introduced their departure from FaZe. This included the likes of Alexander “Adapt” Prynkiewicz and Alexander “Apex” Prynkiewicz, who had been with the org for nearly 15 years, in addition to their new stars like Nick “Lacy” Fosco, Rani “StableRonaldo” Netz, and others.
FaZe Clan posted a press release on December 28, confirming the tip of “this period” of the group.
“It’s heartbreaking to see this period of FaZe come to a detailed,” they stated. “It’s past tragic the best way all of it ended, it’s been an emotional few days.
“We want the boys one of the best not solely as creators, however as folks too. FaZe has at all times felt like a household, so we’ll at all times unconditionally root for and assist them.”
Nonetheless, the ultimate sentence within the assertion is maybe probably the most attention-grabbing: “FaZe esports has at all times operated as a separate entity, nothing on that aspect will change. Reasonably it’ll develop into our primary focus transferring ahead.”
Our primary focus transferring ahead.
FaZe to Hone In On Esports Focus
FaZe has at all times been creator-led, by each good and unhealthy instances. The model expanded far past its hardcore gaming roots through the years, changing into one of the acknowledged world manufacturers in gaming and attracting the curiosity of main names like Snoop Dogg and Kyler Murray, amongst others.
That stated, they’ve been no slouch on the esports aspect both. They’ve gained a number of championships in Name of Obligation, Counter-Strike, Fortnite, Rainbow Six Siege, Apex Legends, and PUBG. Their groups have dominated and earned big fan bases in their very own proper.
However for those who solely adopted the streamers, you most likely wouldn’t know any of that was even taking place.
Now, although, it’s going to be the principle focus of the group, as reiterated by Kaysan, the person that has constantly straddled the road between FaZe Esports and FaZe Media, the officially-recognized names of the 2 sides of the enterprise.
“There might be no impression in any way to FaZe esports,” he stated in his Twitch stream. “The CS group is okay, the Name of Obligation group – who additionally has an unimaginable proprietor in Paul Hamilton [of Atlanta Esports Ventures] working the present… We even have ZooMaa, who in my eyes is each half the id of what FaZe needs to be.”
He additionally reiterated his dedication to the group, saying that he’s “all in” on rising FaZe esports even additional.
Already Modifications in FaZe Esports
Not lengthy after the bulletins, there have been really some modifications within the FaZe esports ecosystem, although its unclear how a lot it correlates to the modifications inside the group.
Fortnite star Shane “EpikWhale” Cotton stated on December 28 that he has now parted methods with FaZe. Nonetheless, with modifications coming to Fortnite in 2026 together with a change to duos, modifications had been anticipated right here regardless.
In fact, issues might change extra going ahead, however the renewed give attention to esports might be a breath of recent air for followers of the group’s aggressive endeavors.
There’s more likely to be a course of over the approaching months the place the modifications will develop into clearer, but when somebody like Thomas “ZooMaa” Paparatto actually is the blueprint for the way forward for FaZe, we might even see them tackle a job extra much like long-time rivals OpTic Gaming, whose content material has at all times centered on their esports groups and gamers.
