SK Gaming
Encyclopedia
SK Gaming is a professional German
electronic sports
organization founded in 1997 by a small group of Quake
players living in Oberhausen
. SK Gaming retains teams across different genres and are particularly known for their success in Counter-Strike
tournaments. SK is one of the founding members of the G7 Teams.
Quake clan by four brothers and three accomplices in Oberhausen, Germany. 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. According to Ralf Reichert, the original naming of the organization originated from one of the members repeatedly shouting, "Schröet!" This was a common occurrence from whenever a double-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 became SK Gaming.
Initially, the Beames family home operated as the Schroet Kommando headquarters, concentrating primarily upon the Quake series. Early on, Schroet Kommando became one of the first clans to feature an all-female team; the most notable of which was Annemarie "XS" Warnkross, who is a notable current television host on German TV. The organization expanded into Counter-Strike
, where it became known as one of the most-successful squads in all of Germany. In September of 2001, Andreas "bds" Thorstensson
merged his Geekboys team and news syndicate with that of SK Gaming, with a long-term prospect of emphasizing the success of his own organization. Thorstensson revolutionized electronic 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, mods and add-ons better and earlier than others, talk directly to SK gamers etc.), The organization's international Counter-Strike success came when they signed on the players of the successful Swedish
Counter-Strike
clan Ninjas in Pyjamas
. In 2003, SK Gaming became the first electronic sports organization to contract players, beginning with the SK Sweden Counter-Strike squad.
The 2006 season brought no successes to the Counter-Strike team, the most notable of which, the team failed to qualify for the Electronic Sports World Cup
, in which Sweden
was represented by rivals Ninjas in Pyjamas and the developing Fnatic
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 the Quake 4
squad however, as the Swedish star player Johan "Toxic" Quick managed to win eight out of the ten major tournaments during that year, including four out of five World Championships
. Meanwhile, the FIFA 06
squad had a successful year, as the team managed to win the prestigious Electronic Sports League Pro Series twice, and the German player Daniel "hero" Schellhase won the World Cyber Games
championship.
In 2008, SK Gaming began to invest in World of Warcraft
and shortly before the release of the Sunwell Plateau, the final and most challenging raid encounter of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
, the organization sponsored Curse, one of the highest-ranked guilds at the time. 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. Due to differences in interests, the PvE team was dismissed, with a stronger emphasis upon the PvP aspect. Near the end of 2008, SK Gaming entered the competitive console scene, with acquisition of a German Xbox
team.
Beginning in the fall of 2009, the Counter-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. 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 against Fnatic
. 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. Alongside Thorstensson's departure, the highly-successful Warcraft III departed, as well, in order to make way for SK Gaming to operate as a more conservative business. To accomodate for the Counter-Strike stability issues, SK Gaming announced the replacement of Frej "kHRYSTAL" Sjöström with the former Fnatic
player Rasmus "GuX" Ståhl. In one of the greatest controversies in electronic sports history, the organization Fnatic arranged for Rasmus "GuX" Ståhl to rejoin their Counter-Strike team, after a series of failed performances. 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 Despite the closure of SK's investment into the Action RTS scene with the departure of its Defense of the Ancients
team in 2009, SK Gaming took in a squad for the relatively unknown title Avalon Heroes in 2010, as well as an American Heroes of Newerth
squad and a European League of Legends
squad. In August of 2010, welcomed back Warcraft III veteran Fredrik "MaDFroG" Johansson, with the creation of the organization's StarCraft II
division. 2010 marked the final year in which SK Gaming would support World of Warcraft, with the removal of its European, American and Asian squads, as well as the unnannounced closure of its Sansibar squad. On December 3, it was announced that the German FIFA
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. In a massive Counter-Strike roster overhaul on December 7, SK Gaming signed on the departing Fnatic players Patrik "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. On December 21, it was announced that SK Gaming would be closing its Counter-Strike female team, as well as its short-lived Counter-Strike: Source team, in order to retain a more conservative roster for 2011.
The first development of 2011 constituted the trimming of the Xbox 360 sports roster and the addition of a competitive Call of Duty: Black Ops
team, as well as the addition of newcomers Hun "inuh" Park and Jimmy "jimpo" Wölfinger to the StarCraft II team. These new StarCraft II players would, however, become the entirety of the division, as it was soon announced afterwords that Fredrik "MaDFroG" Johansson would not be given a contract for 2011. On January 16, it was announced that SK Gaming would be adding an additional United States Counter-Strike division, which would include former SK Gaming female member Alice "ali" Lew. On February 28, SK Gaming announced that Toshiba
would be taking the reins of main sponsor from Acer Inc., which had served as the primary sponsor since 2009. On March 12, SK Gaming announced the additions of the up and rising StarCraft II Dane Johannes Sabroe "Joe" Witt, as well as a Bloodline Champions
squad. On April 4, five-year Counter-Strike player, Jimmy "allen" Allén, announced his inactivity, due to considerable health ailments, setting the stage for the trial replacement, Dennis "dennis" Edman. However, on May 23, SK Gaming declared that Edman would no longer be playing for the organization and that Allén would participate in the WCG
Swedish Qualifer the following weekend. On May 29, however, a permanent replacement was made with the still-contracted Fnatic player and former SK stand-in, Marcus "Delpan" Larsson. On June 23, following a disappointing Dreamhack appearance, SK Gaming's League of Legends team underwent a massive overhaul, removing the vast majority of the squad, but bringing in recently dismissed players from other professional organizations. On July 1, it was announced that the SK Gaming's Heroes of Newerth team would be replaced by the former squad of Evil Geniuses
. On Independence Day
of 2011, SK Gaming released its European StarCraft II roster consisting of Hun "inuh" Park, Jimmy "jimpo" Wölfinger and Johannes Sabroe "Joe" Witt, citing unsatisfactory performances. The squad was remade, however, on July 15, with the partnership with the South Korean pro-gamer house, Old Generations, for SK Gaming to sponsor Min Chul "MC" Jang
and Yoon-Yeol "NaDa" Lee
for international events. Due to long-term prospective differences, the Heroes of Newerth once again parted ways with the organization, during SK's attendance at Gamescom
. SK Gaming would invest in a different sector of the action RTS scene, however, with the acquisition of an all-Danish Dota 2
squad previously known as Next Evolution ESC, on November 12, 2011.
, with the owners being Alexander Müller-Rodic, Andreas Thorstensson and Ralf Reichert, the former who still operates full-time as the managing director of the company. SK Gaming operates largely due to its sponsorships, most-notably by Toshiba
, SteelSeries
, Kingston Technology
and Bigben
. 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.
(Quake) Benjamin "Kane" Reichert
(Quake) Musa "kila" Celik
(Quake) Emil "HeatoN" Christensen
(Counter-Strike) Johan "Toxjq" Quick
(Quake IV) Andreas "bds" Thorstensson
(Counter-Strike) Fredrik "MaDFroG" Johansson (Warcraft III, StarCraft II)
World Championships
World Championships
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
electronic sports
Electronic sports
Electronic sports comprises the competitive play of video games. Other terms include competitive gaming, professional gaming and cybersports...
organization founded in 1997 by a small group of Quake
Quake (series)
The Quake series is a line of first-person shooter video games produced by id Software.-Overview:The Quake series is somewhat unusual in that its focus changes frequently; the story of Quake II has nothing to do with Quake, and Quake III Arena has little to do with either of its predecessors...
players living in Oberhausen
Oberhausen
Oberhausen is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen . The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage. It is also well known for the...
. SK Gaming retains teams across different genres and are particularly known for their success in Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike is a tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Valve Corporation which originated from a Half-Life modification by Minh "Gooseman" Le and Jess "Cliffe" Cliffe...
tournaments. SK is one of the founding members of the G7 Teams.
History
Schroet Kommando was founded in 1997 as a GermanGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Quake clan by four brothers and three accomplices in Oberhausen, Germany. The original line-up of Schroet Kommando consisted of Ralf “Griff” Reichert, Daniel “Godlike” Beames, Tim “Burke” Reichert
Tim Reichert
Tim Reichert is a German professional football player for Sportfreunde Siegen and co-founder of the SK Gaming e-sports clan.- Career :...
, Benjamin “Kane” Reichert
Benjamin Reichert
Benjamin Reichert is a German professional football player for Rot-Weiß Oberhausen and co-founder of the SK Gaming e-sports clan....
, Kristof “Speed” Salwiczek, Carsten “Storch” Kramer and Sven “Ramses” Tümmers. According to Ralf Reichert, the original naming of the organization originated from one of the members repeatedly shouting, "Schröet!" This was a common occurrence from whenever a double-barreled shotgun
Double-barreled shotgun
A double-barreled shotgun is a shotgun or combination gun with two parallel barrels, allowing two shots to be fired in quick succession.-Construction:...
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 became SK Gaming.
Initially, the Beames family home operated as the Schroet Kommando headquarters, concentrating primarily upon the Quake series. Early on, Schroet Kommando became one of the first clans to feature an all-female team; the most notable of which was Annemarie "XS" Warnkross, who is a notable current television host on German TV. The organization expanded into Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike is a tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Valve Corporation which originated from a Half-Life modification by Minh "Gooseman" Le and Jess "Cliffe" Cliffe...
, where it became known as one of the most-successful squads in all of Germany. In September of 2001, Andreas "bds" Thorstensson
Andreas Thorstensson
Andreas Thorstensson is a Swedish businessman, web developer and former professional gamer. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential innovators for electronic sports, having set the standards for the features and quality for player management and news syndicate professionalism...
merged his Geekboys team and news syndicate with that of SK Gaming, with a long-term prospect of emphasizing the success of his own organization. Thorstensson revolutionized electronic sports
Electronic sports
Electronic sports comprises the competitive play of video games. Other terms include competitive gaming, professional gaming and cybersports...
by having SK act as the first organization to have payable premium services ("SK Insider", a virtual marketplace in which subscribers could download demos, mods and add-ons better and earlier than others, talk directly to SK gamers etc.), The organization's international Counter-Strike success came when they signed on the players of the successful Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike is a tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Valve Corporation which originated from a Half-Life modification by Minh "Gooseman" Le and Jess "Cliffe" Cliffe...
clan Ninjas in Pyjamas
Ninjas in Pyjamas
Ninjas in Pyjamas was a professional Counter-Strike clan based in Sweden. They were considered to be one of the top teams in the world by many, including GotFrag.-2000 - 2002:...
. In 2003, SK Gaming became the first electronic sports organization to contract players, beginning with the SK Sweden Counter-Strike squad.
The 2006 season brought no successes to the Counter-Strike team, the most notable of which, the team failed to qualify for the Electronic Sports World Cup
Electronic Sports World Cup
The Electronic Sports World Cup is an international professional gaming championship.Every year winners of national qualifier event around the world earn the right to represent their country in the ESWC Finals...
, in which Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
was represented by rivals Ninjas in Pyjamas and the developing Fnatic
Fnatic
Fnatic is a professional electronic sports organization based out of Australia, UK and The Netherlands. Fnatic was founded in July 23, 2004. Fnatic is particularly well-known for its highly successful Counter-Strike team, which is the single most financially-successful Counter-Strike team in...
team. Thereafter, the team managed to qualify for the KODE5
KODE5
The KODE5 is an international gaming circuit that will take place in more than 20 countries worldwide and a grand final in Moscow, Russia. Every year winners of regional events event around the world will earn the right to represent their country in the Grand Final event...
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 the Quake 4
Quake 4
Quake 4 is the fourth title in the series of Quake first-person shooter computer games. The game was developed by Raven Software and published by Activision. Raven Software has collaborated with id Software, the creators and historical developers of preceding Quake games...
squad however, as the Swedish star player Johan "Toxic" Quick managed to win eight out of the ten major tournaments during that year, including four out of five World Championships
2006 e-Sports World Champions
This article contains a summary of the top four finishers in the various e-Sports world championships in the 2006 season.- Counter-Strike :- Quake 4 :- Quake 3 :-Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne:...
. Meanwhile, the FIFA 06
FIFA 06
FIFA 06, also known as FIFA Soccer 06, is a video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts based around the game of football. It was released in the United States on 4 October 2005 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Windows, PlayStation Portable, Game Boy Advance, and...
squad had a successful year, as the team managed to win the prestigious Electronic Sports League Pro Series twice, and the German player Daniel "hero" Schellhase won the World Cyber Games
World Cyber Games
The World Cyber Games is an international competitive video-gaming event operated by South Korean company World Cyber Games Inc., and sponsored by Samsung and Microsoft...
championship.
In 2008, SK Gaming began to invest in World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994...
and shortly before the release of the Sunwell Plateau, the final and most challenging raid encounter of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, often referred to as TBC or BC, is the first expansion pack for the MMORPG World of Warcraft...
, the organization sponsored Curse, one of the highest-ranked guilds at the time. SK Gaming's German competitor, Mousesports
Mousesports
Mousesports, , is a professional gaming organization based out of Germany. Mousesports fields teams in many different games and are particularly known for the company's successful Counter-Strike team...
, 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. Due to differences in interests, the PvE team was dismissed, with a stronger emphasis upon the PvP aspect. Near the end of 2008, SK Gaming entered the competitive console scene, with acquisition of a German Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
team.
Beginning in the fall of 2009, the Counter-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. 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 against Fnatic
Fnatic
Fnatic is a professional electronic sports organization based out of Australia, UK and The Netherlands. Fnatic was founded in July 23, 2004. Fnatic is particularly well-known for its highly successful Counter-Strike team, which is the single most financially-successful Counter-Strike team in...
. 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. Alongside Thorstensson's departure, the highly-successful Warcraft III departed, as well, in order to make way for SK Gaming to operate as a more conservative business. To accomodate for the Counter-Strike stability issues, SK Gaming announced the replacement of Frej "kHRYSTAL" Sjöström with the former Fnatic
Fnatic
Fnatic is a professional electronic sports organization based out of Australia, UK and The Netherlands. Fnatic was founded in July 23, 2004. Fnatic is particularly well-known for its highly successful Counter-Strike team, which is the single most financially-successful Counter-Strike team in...
player Rasmus "GuX" Ståhl. In one of the greatest controversies in electronic sports history, the organization Fnatic arranged for Rasmus "GuX" Ståhl to rejoin their Counter-Strike team, after a series of failed performances. 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 Despite the closure of SK's investment into the Action RTS scene with the departure of its Defense of the Ancients
Defense of the Ancients
Defense of the Ancients is a custom scenario for the real-time strategy game Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and its expansion, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, based on the "Aeon of Strife" map for StarCraft...
team in 2009, SK Gaming took in a squad for the relatively unknown title Avalon Heroes in 2010, as well as an American Heroes of Newerth
Heroes of Newerth
Heroes of Newerth is a free-to-play science fantasy, action real-time strategy game developed by S2 Games for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. The game was heavily inspired by the Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne custom map, Defense of the Ancients and is S2 Games' first game title in the...
squad and a European League of Legends
League of Legends
The BetFred League of Legends was a darts tournament featuring some of the legends of the game of darts which commenced in May 2008. The tournament is broadcast on Setanta Sports in the United Kingdom....
squad. In August of 2010, welcomed back Warcraft III veteran Fredrik "MaDFroG" Johansson, with the creation of the organization's StarCraft II
StarCraft II
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game developed and released by Blizzard Entertainment for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. A sequel to the award-winning 1998 video game StarCraft and its expansions, the game was released worldwide on July 27, 2010...
division. 2010 marked the final year in which SK Gaming would support World of Warcraft, with the removal of its European, American and Asian squads, as well as the unnannounced closure of its Sansibar squad. On December 3, it was announced that the German FIFA
FIFA (series)
FIFA, also known as FIFA Football or FIFA Soccer, is a series of association football video games, released annually by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label...
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. In a massive Counter-Strike roster overhaul on December 7, SK Gaming signed on the departing Fnatic players Patrik "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. On December 21, it was announced that SK Gaming would be closing its Counter-Strike female team, as well as its short-lived Counter-Strike: Source team, in order to retain a more conservative roster for 2011.
The first development of 2011 constituted the trimming of the Xbox 360 sports roster and the addition of a competitive Call of Duty: Black Ops
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Call of Duty: Black Ops is a first-person shooter video game developed by Treyarch, published by Activision and released worldwide on November 9, for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii consoles, with a separate version for Nintendo DS developed by n-Space. Announced on April 30, 2010,...
team, as well as the addition of newcomers Hun "inuh" Park and Jimmy "jimpo" Wölfinger to the StarCraft II team. These new StarCraft II players would, however, become the entirety of the division, as it was soon announced afterwords that Fredrik "MaDFroG" Johansson would not be given a contract for 2011. On January 16, it was announced that SK Gaming would be adding an additional United States Counter-Strike division, which would include former SK Gaming female member Alice "ali" Lew. On February 28, SK Gaming announced that Toshiba
Toshiba
is a multinational electronics and electrical equipment corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is a diversified manufacturer and marketer of electrical products, spanning information & communications equipment and systems, Internet-based solutions and services, electronic components and...
would be taking the reins of main sponsor from Acer Inc., which had served as the primary sponsor since 2009. On March 12, SK Gaming announced the additions of the up and rising StarCraft II Dane Johannes Sabroe "Joe" Witt, as well as a Bloodline Champions
Bloodline Champions
Bloodline Champions is an arena-based free to play PvP game developed by the Swedish company Stunlock Studios and distributed by Funcom using Microsoft XNA. Bloodline Champions won both "Game of the Year" and "Winner XNA" in the Swedish Game Awards 2009...
squad. On April 4, five-year Counter-Strike player, Jimmy "allen" Allén, announced his inactivity, due to considerable health ailments, setting the stage for the trial replacement, Dennis "dennis" Edman. However, on May 23, SK Gaming declared that Edman would no longer be playing for the organization and that Allén would participate in the WCG
World Cyber Games
The World Cyber Games is an international competitive video-gaming event operated by South Korean company World Cyber Games Inc., and sponsored by Samsung and Microsoft...
Swedish Qualifer the following weekend. On May 29, however, a permanent replacement was made with the still-contracted Fnatic player and former SK stand-in, Marcus "Delpan" Larsson. On June 23, following a disappointing Dreamhack appearance, SK Gaming's League of Legends team underwent a massive overhaul, removing the vast majority of the squad, but bringing in recently dismissed players from other professional organizations. On July 1, it was announced that the SK Gaming's Heroes of Newerth team would be replaced by the former squad of Evil Geniuses
Evil Geniuses
Evil Geniuses is a professional gaming organization based out of the United States. Founded in 1999, the organization is known as being the premier North American electronic sports organization, boasting highly successful players across each competitive genre...
. On Independence Day
Independence Day (United States)
Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...
of 2011, SK Gaming released its European StarCraft II roster consisting of Hun "inuh" Park, Jimmy "jimpo" Wölfinger and Johannes Sabroe "Joe" Witt, citing unsatisfactory performances. The squad was remade, however, on July 15, with the partnership with the South Korean pro-gamer house, Old Generations, for SK Gaming to sponsor Min Chul "MC" Jang
Jang Min Chul
Jang Min Chul , nicknamed MC, is a Korean professional player of the computer game StarCraft 2. He has won the GOMTV Global Starcraft II League twice, and as of 2011 is considered one of the top Starcraft 2 players in the world. He is part of the Korean team Old Generations . MC plays...
and Yoon-Yeol "NaDa" Lee
Lee Yun-Yeol
Lee Yun-Yeol, , also known as '"NaDa", is a South Korean professional gamer who competitively plays StarCraft II and before that, StarCraft: Brood War...
for international events. Due to long-term prospective differences, the Heroes of Newerth once again parted ways with the organization, during SK's attendance at Gamescom
Gamescom
gamescom is a trade fair for video games held annually at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is organised by the Bundesverband Interaktive Unterhaltungssoftware...
. SK Gaming would invest in a different sector of the action RTS scene, however, with the acquisition of an all-Danish Dota 2
Dota 2
Dota 2 is an upcoming action fantasy strategy video game being developed by Valve Corporation. The stand-alone sequel to the popular Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and The Frozen Throne mod Defense of the Ancients, it was formally announced on October 13, 2010 via the website of magazine Game Informer...
squad previously known as Next Evolution ESC, on November 12, 2011.
Business model
SK Gaming is technically a Gesellschaft mit beschränkter HaftungGesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung
Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung is a type of legal entityvery common in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and other Central European countries...
, with the owners being Alexander Müller-Rodic, Andreas Thorstensson and Ralf Reichert, the former who still operates full-time as the managing director of the company. SK Gaming operates largely due to its sponsorships, most-notably by Toshiba
Toshiba
is a multinational electronics and electrical equipment corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is a diversified manufacturer and marketer of electrical products, spanning information & communications equipment and systems, Internet-based solutions and services, electronic components and...
, SteelSeries
SteelSeries
SteelSeries is a Danish manufacturer of gaming peripherals and accessories, including headsets, keyboards, mice, gaming surfaces and software. SteelSeries has historically helped sponsor the growth of competitive gaming and electronic sports through professional team sponsorships and community...
, Kingston Technology
Kingston Technology
Kingston Technology Company, Inc. is an American privately held, multinational computer technology corporation that develops, manufactures, sells and supports flash memory products and other computer-related memory products. Headquartered in Fountain Valley, California, USA, Kingston Technology...
and Bigben
Bigben
The Bigben Supercomputer was a Cray XT3 MPP system with 2068 nodes located at Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center. It was decommissioned on March 31, 2010. Bigben was a part of the Teragrid.- System Architecture :...
. 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.
Counter-Strike
Marcus "Delpan" Larsson Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg Johan "face" Klasson Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund Robert "RobbaN" DahlströmLeague of Legends
Adrian "Candy Panda" Wübbelmann Patrick "Nyph" Funke Carlos "ocelote" Rodríguez SantiagoDota 2
Martin "AngeL" Olsen Alexander "CalculuS" Rathcke Sylvester "Link" Hoelgaard Mikkel "miGGel" Berg Christoffer Borregaard "Ryze" WintherNotable alumni
Tim "Burke" ReichertTim Reichert
Tim Reichert is a German professional football player for Sportfreunde Siegen and co-founder of the SK Gaming e-sports clan.- Career :...
(Quake) Benjamin "Kane" Reichert
Benjamin Reichert
Benjamin Reichert is a German professional football player for Rot-Weiß Oberhausen and co-founder of the SK Gaming e-sports clan....
(Quake) Musa "kila" Celik
Musa Celik
Musa Celik is a German professional footballer who currently plays for Rot-Weiß Oberhausen II and is co-founder of the SK Gaming e-sports clan.-Career:...
(Quake) Emil "HeatoN" Christensen
Emil Christensen
Emil Pathric William Christensen , alias HeatoN, is a former Swedish professional Counter-Strike player, formerly playing as captain of the gaming team Ninjas in Pyjamas...
(Counter-Strike) Johan "Toxjq" Quick
Johan Quick
Johan Quick, who plays with the pseudonym "Toxjq", also known as tox, toxic is a professional gamer from Norrköping, Sweden. Quick is currently signed by Jonathan Wendel's Free Player Organization and is specialized in Quake 4 competitions. During the 2006 season, he was signed to SK Gaming and won...
(Quake IV) Andreas "bds" Thorstensson
Andreas Thorstensson
Andreas Thorstensson is a Swedish businessman, web developer and former professional gamer. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential innovators for electronic sports, having set the standards for the features and quality for player management and news syndicate professionalism...
(Counter-Strike) Fredrik "MaDFroG" Johansson (Warcraft III, StarCraft II)
Counter-Strike
- CPLCyberathlete Professional LeagueThe Cyberathlete Professional League , founded on June 27, 1997 by gaming entrepreneur Angel Munoz, is a professional sports tournament organization specializing in computer and console video game competitions....
- 1st CPL Winter 2005 -
Dallas - 1st CPL Summer 2005 - Dallas
- 2nd CPL Summer 2004 - Dallas
- 1st CPL Winter 2003 - Dallas
- 1st CPL Europe 2003 -
CopenhagenCopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region... - 1st CPL Summer 2003 - Dallas
- 1st CPL Europe 2003 -
CannesCannesCannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department.... - 3rd CPL Winter 2002 - Dallas
- 1st CPL Summer 2002 - Dallas
- 3rd CPL Europe 2002 -
CologneCologneCologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
- ESL
- 3rd ESL Extreme Masters IV 09/10: Global Challenge Dubai -
DubaiDubaiDubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi... - 1st ESL Extreme Masters IV 09/10: Global Challenge Chengdu -
ChengduChengduChengdu , formerly transliterated Chengtu, is the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China. It holds sub-provincial administrative status... - 2nd ESL Extreme Masters III 08/09: Global Challenge Montreal -
MontrealMontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America... - 1st ESL Extreme Masters III 08/09: Global Challenge Los Angeles - Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
- 2nd ESL Extreme Masters II 07/08: Global Challenge Los Angeles - Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
- ESWC
- 1st ESWC 2011 - ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
- 2nd ESWC Masters Cheonan 2009 -
CheonanCheonanCheonan is a city located in the northeast corner of South Chungcheong, a province of South Korea, and is 83.6 km south of the capital, Seoul... - 2nd ESWC 2005 - ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
- 3rd ESWC 2003 - PoitiersPoitiersPoitiers is a city on the Clain river in west central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and of the Poitou-Charentes region. The centre is picturesque and its streets are interesting for predominant remains of historical architecture, especially from the Romanesque...
- KODE5KODE5The KODE5 is an international gaming circuit that will take place in more than 20 countries worldwide and a grand final in Moscow, Russia. Every year winners of regional events event around the world will earn the right to represent their country in the Grand Final event...
- KODE5
- 2nd KODE5 08/09 -
MoscowMoscowMoscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent... - 3rd KODE5 07/08 - MoscowMoscowMoscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
- WCGWorld Cyber GamesThe World Cyber Games is an international competitive video-gaming event operated by South Korean company World Cyber Games Inc., and sponsored by Samsung and Microsoft...
- WCG
- 2nd WCG 2008 - CologneCologneCologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
- 1st WCG Euro Championship 2007 - Hannover
- 1st WCG 2003 - SeoulSeoulSeoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
Quake, Painkiller & Unreal Tournament
- 1st KODE5KODE5The KODE5 is an international gaming circuit that will take place in more than 20 countries worldwide and a grand final in Moscow, Russia. Every year winners of regional events event around the world will earn the right to represent their country in the Grand Final event...
Finals 2006 – Johan "Toxic" Quick (Quake 4) - 1st QuakeConQuakeConQuakeCon is a bring-your-own-computer computer gaming event with a competitive tournament held every year in Dallas, Texas, USA. The event, which is named after id Software's game Quake, sees thousands of gamers from all over the world attend every year to celebrate the company's gaming dynasty...
2006 – Johan "Toxic" Quick (Quake 4) - 1st World Series of Video GamesWorld Series of Video GamesThe World Series of Video Games was an international professional electronic sports competition. It held its first season in 2006, with competitions in six different games and six events held around the world including the finals of the event. The total prize purse of the season was US$750,000...
Intel Summer Championship 2006 – Johan "Toxic" Quick (Quake 4) - 2nd World Series of Video GamesWorld Series of Video GamesThe World Series of Video Games was an international professional electronic sports competition. It held its first season in 2006, with competitions in six different games and six events held around the world including the finals of the event. The total prize purse of the season was US$750,000...
Sweden 2006 – Johan "Toxic" Quick (Quake 4) - 1st World Series of Video GamesWorld Series of Video GamesThe World Series of Video Games was an international professional electronic sports competition. It held its first season in 2006, with competitions in six different games and six events held around the world including the finals of the event. The total prize purse of the season was US$750,000...
London 2006 – Johan "Toxic" Quick (Quake 4) - 1st DigitalLife 2006 – Johan "Toxic" Quick (Quake 4)
- 1st World Cyber GamesWorld Cyber GamesThe World Cyber Games is an international competitive video-gaming event operated by South Korean company World Cyber Games Inc., and sponsored by Samsung and Microsoft...
2006 – Johan "Toxic" Quick (Quake 4) - 1st World Series of Video GamesWorld Series of Video GamesThe World Series of Video Games was an international professional electronic sports competition. It held its first season in 2006, with competitions in six different games and six events held around the world including the finals of the event. The total prize purse of the season was US$750,000...
Finals 2006 – Johan "Toxic" Quick (Quake 4) - 2nd 2005 CPL World Tour2005 CPL World TourThe 2005 CPL World Tour was a year-long gaming competition held by the CPL. This competition took place throughout 2005, with a total of 9 international stops and a finals event held in the New York City, USA and televised by MTV....
: Istanbul – Benjamin "zyz" Bohrmann (Painkiller) - 1st 2005 CPL World Tour2005 CPL World TourThe 2005 CPL World Tour was a year-long gaming competition held by the CPL. This competition took place throughout 2005, with a total of 9 international stops and a finals event held in the New York City, USA and televised by MTV....
: Spain – Stephan "SteLam" Lammert (Painkiller) - 3rd 2005 CPL World Tour2005 CPL World TourThe 2005 CPL World Tour was a year-long gaming competition held by the CPL. This competition took place throughout 2005, with a total of 9 international stops and a finals event held in the New York City, USA and televised by MTV....
: Brazil – Benjamin "zyz" Bohrmann (Painkiller) - 3rd Electronic Sports World CupElectronic Sports World CupThe Electronic Sports World Cup is an international professional gaming championship.Every year winners of national qualifier event around the world earn the right to represent their country in the ESWC Finals...
2005 – Fox (Quake 3) - 3rd 2005 CPL World Tour2005 CPL World TourThe 2005 CPL World Tour was a year-long gaming competition held by the CPL. This competition took place throughout 2005, with a total of 9 international stops and a finals event held in the New York City, USA and televised by MTV....
: Sweden – jonathan "j0ntish" sjödin (Painkiller) - 3rd 2005 CPL World Tour2005 CPL World TourThe 2005 CPL World Tour was a year-long gaming competition held by the CPL. This competition took place throughout 2005, with a total of 9 international stops and a finals event held in the New York City, USA and televised by MTV....
: United Kingdom – Benjamin "zyz" Bohrmann (Painkiller) - 2nd CPLCyberathlete Professional LeagueThe Cyberathlete Professional League , founded on June 27, 1997 by gaming entrepreneur Angel Munoz, is a professional sports tournament organization specializing in computer and console video game competitions....
2005 Winter – Johan "Toxic" Quick (Quake 4) - 3rd Cyberathlete Professional LeagueCyberathlete Professional LeagueThe Cyberathlete Professional League , founded on June 27, 1997 by gaming entrepreneur Angel Munoz, is a professional sports tournament organization specializing in computer and console video game competitions....
: Summer 2004 – Stephan "SteLam" Lammert (Painkiller) - 1st Cyberathlete Professional LeagueCyberathlete Professional LeagueThe Cyberathlete Professional League , founded on June 27, 1997 by gaming entrepreneur Angel Munoz, is a professional sports tournament organization specializing in computer and console video game competitions....
: Summer 2004 – Team (Unreal Tournament 2004) - 2nd Electronic Sports World CupElectronic Sports World CupThe Electronic Sports World Cup is an international professional gaming championship.Every year winners of national qualifier event around the world earn the right to represent their country in the ESWC Finals...
2004 – Christian "GitzZz" HoeckChristian HockChristian Hock is a retired German football player and a football manager who currently managing Hessen Kassel.-External links:...
(Unreal Tournament 2004) - 1st Electronic Sports World CupElectronic Sports World CupThe Electronic Sports World Cup is an international professional gaming championship.Every year winners of national qualifier event around the world earn the right to represent their country in the ESWC Finals...
2003 – Christian "GitzZz" HoeckChristian HockChristian Hock is a retired German football player and a football manager who currently managing Hessen Kassel.-External links:...
(Unreal Tournament 2003) - 3rd World Cyber GamesWorld Cyber GamesThe World Cyber Games is an international competitive video-gaming event operated by South Korean company World Cyber Games Inc., and sponsored by Samsung and Microsoft...
2001 – Stephan "SteLam" Lammert (Quake 3)
World Championships
- KODE5 (2006, Quake 4)
- World Cyber GamesWorld Cyber GamesThe World Cyber Games is an international competitive video-gaming event operated by South Korean company World Cyber Games Inc., and sponsored by Samsung and Microsoft...
(2006, Quake 4) - World Series of Video GamesWorld Series of Video GamesThe World Series of Video Games was an international professional electronic sports competition. It held its first season in 2006, with competitions in six different games and six events held around the world including the finals of the event. The total prize purse of the season was US$750,000...
(2006, Quake 4) - Electronic Sports World CupElectronic Sports World CupThe Electronic Sports World Cup is an international professional gaming championship.Every year winners of national qualifier event around the world earn the right to represent their country in the ESWC Finals...
(2003, Unreal Tournament)
Warcraft III
- 1st WCG SEC 2007 –
Mykhaylo "HoT" Novopashyn - 2nd World Series of Videogames, Finals 2006 – Jung Hee "jamem" Chun
- 3rd World Cyber GamesWorld Cyber GamesThe World Cyber Games is an international competitive video-gaming event operated by South Korean company World Cyber Games Inc., and sponsored by Samsung and Microsoft...
2006 – Mykhaylo "HoT" Novopashyn - 1st KODE5 2006- Andrey "Deadman" Sobolev
- 1st World Series of Videogames, China 2006 – Jung Hee "Sweet" Chun
- 1st World Series of Videogames, Sweden 2006 – Andrey "Deadman" Sobolev
- 2nd NGL One Season I 2006 – Team
- 3rd Warcraft 3 Champions League V 2006 – Team
- 1st ClanBase EuroCup 2005 – Mykhaylo "HoT" Novopashyn
- 3rd CPL SummerCyberathlete Professional LeagueThe Cyberathlete Professional League , founded on June 27, 1997 by gaming entrepreneur Angel Munoz, is a professional sports tournament organization specializing in computer and console video game competitions....
2005 –
Björn "ElakeDuck" ödman - 2nd Electronic Sports World CupElectronic Sports World CupThe Electronic Sports World Cup is an international professional gaming championship.Every year winners of national qualifier event around the world earn the right to represent their country in the ESWC Finals...
2005 – Andrey "Deadman" Sobolev - 3rd ACON5 2005 – Andrey "Deadman" Sobolev
- 3rd Warcraft 3 Champions League VII 2005 – Team
- 2nd World E-Sport Games IWorld e-Sports GamesWorld eSport Games is a competitive, international video game league with elite amateur and pro gamers from around the world battling to be crowned world champions...
2005 – Tae min "Zacard" Hwang - 3rd Warcraft 3 Champions League VI 2004 – Team
- 2nd World Cyber GamesWorld Cyber GamesThe World Cyber Games is an international competitive video-gaming event operated by South Korean company World Cyber Games Inc., and sponsored by Samsung and Microsoft...
2004 – Tae min "Zacard" Hwang - 2nd Electronic Sports World CupElectronic Sports World CupThe Electronic Sports World Cup is an international professional gaming championship.Every year winners of national qualifier event around the world earn the right to represent their country in the ESWC Finals...
2004 – Fredrik "MaDFroG" JohanssonMadfrogFredrik Johansson , better known by the pseudonym MaDFroG, is a famous Swedish WarCraft III and StarCraft II player.... - 3rd Electronic Sports World CupElectronic Sports World CupThe Electronic Sports World Cup is an international professional gaming championship.Every year winners of national qualifier event around the world earn the right to represent their country in the ESWC Finals...
2004 – Alborz "HeMaN" Haidarian - 3rd ACON4 2004 – Jung Hee "Sweet" Chun
- 3rd Warcraft 3 Champions League V 2004 – Team
- 1st Blizzard Worldwide Invitational 2004 – Fredrik "MaDFroG" JohanssonMadfrogFredrik Johansson , better known by the pseudonym MaDFroG, is a famous Swedish WarCraft III and StarCraft II player....
- 3rd Cyber X Gaming 2004 –
Zdravko "Insomnia" Georgiev - 1st World Cyber GamesWorld Cyber GamesThe World Cyber Games is an international competitive video-gaming event operated by South Korean company World Cyber Games Inc., and sponsored by Samsung and Microsoft...
2003 – Zdravko "Insomnia" Georgiev - 1st Euro Cyber Games 2003 – Antoine "FaTC" Zadri
- 2nd Euro Cyber Games 2003 – Georgi "Zeerax" Marinov
- 1st Electronic Sports World CupElectronic Sports World CupThe Electronic Sports World Cup is an international professional gaming championship.Every year winners of national qualifier event around the world earn the right to represent their country in the ESWC Finals...
2003 – Alborz "HeMaN" Haidarian - 2nd Electronic Sports World CupElectronic Sports World CupThe Electronic Sports World Cup is an international professional gaming championship.Every year winners of national qualifier event around the world earn the right to represent their country in the ESWC Finals...
2003 – Fredrik "MaDFroG" JohanssonMadfrogFredrik Johansson , better known by the pseudonym MaDFroG, is a famous Swedish WarCraft III and StarCraft II player.... - 3rd Clikarena 2003 – Zdravko "Insomnia" Georgiev
- 2nd CPL CannesCyberathlete Professional LeagueThe Cyberathlete Professional League , founded on June 27, 1997 by gaming entrepreneur Angel Munoz, is a professional sports tournament organization specializing in computer and console video game competitions....
2003 – Zdravko "Insomnia" Georgiev - 2nd CPL OsloCyberathlete Professional LeagueThe Cyberathlete Professional League , founded on June 27, 1997 by gaming entrepreneur Angel Munoz, is a professional sports tournament organization specializing in computer and console video game competitions....
2002 – Sven "Kovax" Running - 3rd CPL OsloCyberathlete Professional LeagueThe Cyberathlete Professional League , founded on June 27, 1997 by gaming entrepreneur Angel Munoz, is a professional sports tournament organization specializing in computer and console video game competitions....
2002 – Fahad "DsCo" Hamid
World Championships
- KODE5 (2006)
- Blizzard Worldwide Invitational (2004)
- World Cyber GamesWorld Cyber GamesThe World Cyber Games is an international competitive video-gaming event operated by South Korean company World Cyber Games Inc., and sponsored by Samsung and Microsoft...
(2003) - Electronic Sports World CupElectronic Sports World CupThe Electronic Sports World Cup is an international professional gaming championship.Every year winners of national qualifier event around the world earn the right to represent their country in the ESWC Finals...
(2003)
World of Warcraft
- World 1st kill of Felmyst
- World 1st kill of M'uru
- World 1st kill of Kil'jaeden – (final boss of The Burning CrusadeWorld of Warcraft: The Burning CrusadeWorld of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, often referred to as TBC or BC, is the first expansion pack for the MMORPG World of Warcraft...
). - SK.US 1st Place at MLG Columbus
- SK.US 1st Place at the Blizzard Regional Finals
- SK.US 4th Place - BlizzCon 3vs3 World Finals 2009