Less than three months after leaving Team Liquid to join Apeks, French CS:GO superstar Richard “shox” Papillon has been given permission to investigate his options further.
“After much deliberation, we have mutually agreed for shox to explore his options,” Apeks said. “He will not be a part of our active roster moving forward. This is due to a difference in vision on how to proceed with our in-game team development. Richard [shox] has been nothing short of a stellar professional throughout this process and we are doing everything we can to help him find a home where he can thrive. We are actively looking for a replacement.”
Shox’s exit is the first roster change in Apeks after the international team led by Martin “STYKO” Styk pulled out of all tournaments due to poor play and lackluster results at the end of September. Apeks didn’t qualify for Europe Regional Major Ranking (RMR) and therefore couldn’t play for a spot at IEM Rio Major, the second Valve-sponsored event of the year.
This puts an end to shox’s second attempt at playing for an international team. He spent most part of his career and his prime days on French CS:GO teams like G2 and Vitality, and tried his hand at an English-speaking team this year for the first time with Liquid.
With shox out of the active lineup, Apeks is left with just STYKO, Justinas “jL” Lekavicius, Joakim “jkaem” Myrbostad, and Tim “nawwk” Jonasson. Both shox and Apeks will likely wait for the conclusion of IEM Rio Major in November to define their next steps.