 | |
| Short name | SK |
|---|---|
| Divisions | FIFA Hearthstone League of Legends Paladins |
| Founded | 1997 |
| Location | Cologne,Germany |
| Colours | Black, Grey, White |
| CEO | Alexander T. Müller |
| Partners | Deutsche Telekom Razer Sennheiser Mountain Dew |
| Website | www |
SK Gaming is a professionalesports organization based in Germany that has teams across the world competing in different titles. SK is particularly known for their success inCounter-Strike (CS) tournaments. SK'sBrazilianCS team won theESL One Cologne 2016 Major. SK currently has players and teams competing inLeague of Legends andHearthstone. SK Gaming was founded in 1997 by a small group ofQuake players inOberhausen.
Schröt Kommando was founded in 1997 as aGermanQuakeclan by four brothers and three accomplices inOberhausen. The original line-up of Schroet Kommando consisted of Ralf "Griff" Reichert, Daniel "Godlike" Beames,Tim "Burke" Reichert,Benjamin "Kane" Reichert, Kristof "Speed" Salwiczek, Carsten "Storch" Kramer and Sven "Ramses" Tümmers.[1] According to Ralf Reichert, the original naming of the organization originated from one of the members repeatedly shouting "Schröt!" This was a common occurrence from whenever adouble-barreled shotgun would be handled, due to the translation meaning"shrapnel". Eventually, the team adopted this into their name, thus becoming "Schroet Kommando". Since then, the organization began using their abbreviation more often, until it eventually becameSK Gaming.[2]
Initially, the Beames family home operated as the Schroet Kommando headquarters, concentrating primarily upon theQuake series. Early on, Schroet Kommando became one of the first clans to feature an all-female team; the most notable of which wasAnnemarie "XS" Warnkross, who later became a well-known host on German television. The organization expanded intoCounter-Strike, where it became known as one of the most-successful squads in all of Germany. In September 2001,Andreas "bds" Thorstensson merged hisGeekboys team and news syndicate with that of SK Gaming, with a long-term prospect of emphasizing the success of his own organization. Thorstensson revolutionizedelectronic sports by having SK act as the first organization to have payable premium services ("SK Insider", a virtual marketplace in which subscribers could download demos (replays), mods and add-ons better and earlier than others, talk directly to SK gamers etc.).[2] The organization's international Counter-Strike success came when they signed on the players of the successfulSwedishCounter-Strike clanNinjas in Pyjamas. In 2003, SK Gaming became the first electronic sports organization to contract players, beginning with the SK SwedenCounter-Strike squad.[3]
The 2006 season brought no successes to theCounter-Strike team, the most notable of which, the team failed to qualify for theElectronic Sports World Cup, in whichSweden was represented by rivals Ninjas in Pyjamas and the developingFnatic team. Thereafter, the team managed to qualify for the KODE5 finals, where they won two matches and lost to the Brazilians from Made in Brazil during the group stages. They then lost to Wisdom Nerve Victory in the single elimination round, placing fifth to eighth overall. Success did come for theQuake 4 squad however, as the Swedish star playerJohan "Toxic" Quick managed to win eight out of the ten major tournaments during that year, including four out of fiveWorld Championships. Meanwhile, theFIFA 06 squad had a successful year, as the team managed to win the prestigiousElectronic Sports League Pro Series twice, and the German player Daniel "hero" Schellhase won theWorld Cyber Games championship.
In 2008, SK Gaming began to invest inWorld of Warcraft and shortly before the release of the Sunwell Plateau, the final and most challenging raid encounter ofWorld of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, the organizationsponsored Curse, one of the highest-ranked guilds at the time.[4] SK Gaming's German competitor,Mousesports, had significantly commanded the recognition with maintaining Nihilum, the most-successful guild in the world, achieving a strong majority of world first raid kills. The newly recruited SK.PvE squad, however, had a strong winning streak during the Sunwell Plateau and completed most of the instance's boss kills first.[5] Due to differences in interests, the PvE team was dismissed, with a stronger emphasis upon the PvP aspect.[6] Near the end of 2008, SK Gaming entered the competitive console scene, with acquisition of a GermanXbox team.[7]
Beginning in the fall of 2009, theCounter-Strike squad would encounter long-term stability issues, as long-time member Kristoffer "Tentpole" Nordlund and Marcus "zet" Sundström were removed from the roster for disagreements and misrepresentation issues.[8] The roster began refocusing with the acquisition of H2k Gaming players Johan "face" Klasson and Frej "kHRYSTAL" Sjöström, which gained its best respective victory two weeks after the change with a gold medal victory againstFnatic.[9] 2009 marked the conclusion of managing director and partial owner Andreas Thorstensson's tenure, as he stepped down from SK Gaming to further pursue his web development career, giving full executive authority to Alexander T. Müller-Rodic, thereby making SK Gaming a singular German organization.[10] Alongside Thorstensson's departure, the highly successfulWarcraft III departed, as well, in order to make way for SK Gaming to operate as a more conservative business.[11][12] To accommodate for theCounter-Strike stability issues, SK Gaming announced the replacement of Frej "kHRYSTAL" Sjöström with the formerFnatic player Rasmus "GuX" Ståhl.[13] In one of the greatest controversies in electronic sports history, the organization Fnatic arranged for Rasmus "GuX" Ståhl to rejoin theirCounter-Strike team, after a series of failed performances.[14][15] Ståhl did not technically sign his contract with SK after five months, while still receiving months of payment and was intended to attend Arbalet Dallas with his team, after his plane ticket was purchased. However, it was revealed through Ståhl's message logs that Fnatic had paid him not to use SK's ticket to Dallas[16] Despite the closure of SK's investment into the Action RTS scene with the departure of itsDefense of the Ancients team in 2009,[17] SK Gaming took in a squad for the relatively unknown titleAvalon Heroes in 2010, as well as an AmericanHeroes of Newerth squad and a EuropeanLeague of Legends squad.[18] In August 2010, welcomed backWarcraft III veteranFredrik "MaDFroG" Johansson, with the creation of the organization'sStarCraft II division.[19] 2010 marked the final year in which SK Gaming would supportWorld of Warcraft, with the removal of its European, American and Asian squads, as well as the unannounced closure of its Sansibar squad.[20] On 3 December, it was announced that the GermanFIFA duo of Daniel "hero" Schellhase and Dennis "styla" Schellhase would be retiring from eSports, following a joint brotherly career as the most-successful virtual sports players of all time.[21] In a massiveCounter-Strike roster overhaul on 7 December, SK Gaming signed on the departing Fnatic playersPatrik "f0rest" Lindberg and Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund, (the latter of whom played for the organization previously), while also seeing the departure of Dennis "walle" Wallenberg.[22] On 21 December, it was announced that SK Gaming would be closing itsCounter-Strike female team, as well as its short-livedCounter-Strike: Source team, in order to retain a more conservative roster for 2011.[23]
The first development of 2011 constituted the trimming of the Xbox 360 sports roster and the addition of a competitiveCall of Duty: Black Ops team,[24] as well as the addition of newcomers Hun "inuh" Park and Jimmy "jimpo" Wölfinger to theStarCraft II team.[25] These newStarCraft II players would, however, become the entirety of the division, as it was soon announced afterwards that Fredrik "MaDFroG" Johansson would not be given a contract for 2011.[26] On 16 January, it was announced that SK Gaming would be adding another United StatesCounter-Strike division, which would include former SK Gaming female member Alice "ali" Lew.[27] On 28 February, SK Gaming announced thatToshiba would be taking the reins of main sponsor fromAcer Inc., which had served as the primary sponsor since 2009.[28] On 12 March, SK Gaming announced the additions of the up and risingStarCraft II Dane Johannes Sabroe "Joe" Witt,[29] as well as aBloodline Champions squad.[30] On 4 April, five-yearCounter-Strike player, Jimmy "allen" Allén, announced his inactivity, due to considerable health ailments, setting the stage for the trial replacement, Dennis "dennis" Edman.[31] However, on 23 May, SK Gaming declared that Edman would no longer be playing for the organization and that Allén would participate in theWCG Swedish Qualifier the following weekend.[32] On 29 May, however, a permanent replacement was made with the still-contracted Fnatic player and former SK stand-in, Marcus "Delpan" Larsson.[33] On 23 June, following a disappointing Dreamhack appearance, SK Gaming'sLeague of Legends team underwent a massive overhaul, removing the vast majority of the squad, but bringing in recently dismissed players from other professional organizations.[34] On 1 July, it was announced that the SK Gaming'sHeroes of Newerth team would be replaced by the former squad ofEvil Geniuses.[35] OnIndependence Day of 2011, July 4th, SK Gaming released its EuropeanStarCraft II roster consisting of Hun "inuh" Park, Jimmy "jimpo" Wölfinger and Johannes Sabroe "Joe" Witt, citing unsatisfactory performances.[36] The squad was remade, however, on 15 July, with the partnership with the South Korean pro-gamer house Old Generations, for SK Gaming to sponsorMin Chul "MC" Jang andYoon-Yeol "NaDa" Lee for international events.[37] Due to long-term prospective differences, theHeroes of Newerth once again parted ways with the organization, during SK's attendance atGamescom.[38] SK Gaming would invest in a different sector of the action RTS scene, however, with the acquisition of an all-DanishDota 2 squad previously known as Next Evolution ESC, in November 2011,[39] but dismissed the team for the unpredictability of the relatively young scene for the game.[40]
In early 2012, the partnership between SK Gaming and Old Generations ended, with Min Chul "MC" Jang joining the organization, while Yoon-Yeol "NaDa" Lee remained with oGs.[41] In a surprising move, SK Gaming announced that theCounter-Strike team would be removing the player with the shortest tenure, Marcus "Delpan" Larsson, in favor of their first permanent Danish member and former mTw ace, Martin Alexander "trace" Bang Heldt at the end of January.[42] On 13 April, however, Larsson once more returned to the team, replacing Heldt.[43] On 27 July 2012, it was announced that SK Gaming'sCounter-Strike division would lose Robert "RobbaN" Dahlström, Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg and Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund, as well as team captain Anton Budak, due to SK's decision to not send the team to GameGune 2012.[44] On 30 July, SK Gaming announced the final closing of theCounter-Strike division.[45]
On 15 January 2013, it was determined thatSteelSeries has ended their ten-year sponsorship of SK Gaming, in addition toEvil Geniuses.[46] In an annual wrap-up, SK's CEO Alexander T. Müller-Rodic announced the departures ofLeague of Legends players Carlos "ocelote" Rodríguez Santiago, Patrick "Nyph" Funke, as well as the soleStarCraft II player Min Chul "MC" Jang and sports player Bruce "Spank" Grannec.[47]
In January 2017 it was announced thatVisa would be a sponsor of SK Gaming.[48]
SK Gaming is incorporated as a German limited liability company (GmbH). Its owners are Alexander Müller-Rodic, Andreas Thorstensson and Ralf Reichert. SK Gaming operates largely due to its sponsorships, most-notably byToshiba,Kingston Technology andBigben. The company also finances itself by the "SK Insider" subscription service. However, according to Rodic, the vast majority of the company's funds originates from sponsorships.[49]
Riot Games announced on 20 November 2018 that SK Gaming would be one of ten franchise partners participating in the newly rebrandedLeague of Legends European Championship (LEC).[50] On 20 December 2018, the organisation announced it had signed top laner Jorge "Werlyb" Casanovas Moreno-Torres, jungler Oskar "Selfmade" Boderek, mid laner Choi "Pirean" Jun-sik, bot laner Jus "Crownshot" Marusic and support Han "Dreams" Min-kook for their starting roster in the 2019 LEC Spring Split.[51]
| ID | Name | Join date |
|---|---|---|
| Mirza | Mirza Jahic | 1 November 2017[52] |
| ID | Name | Join date |
|---|---|---|
| Zetalot | Dawid Skalski | 4 June 2015[53] |
| AKAWonder | Esteban Serrano | 19 January 2015[54] |
| SK GamingLeague of Legends roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
David "OWN3R" Rodríguez de la Torre
Mauro "Garih" Garih Vidal | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Legend:
| Roster updated 1 April 2025. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bold denotes aCS:GO Major
World Championships
World Championships
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | ESL One Cologne 2016 winner 2016 | Succeeded by |
