Geek Fam has released their Dota 2 squad due to the extended suspension of the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) resulting from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The move comes as a shock to the Southeast Asian competitive Dota scene, as Geek Fam has recently solidified itself as one of the top teams in the region.

“We are extremely proud of the achievements that our team has achieved, however, the coronavirus pandemic has affected us in many aspects,” Geek Fam said in a statement. “Once there is a visible future for Dota 2 and the DPC, we will be back, but until then, we say goodbye to our geeks.”

Geek Fam was founded back in 2016 but has remained on the fringes of top-tier competition before the 2019-2020 DPC season. They finished third at the WePlay! Bukovel Minor in January then qualified for the ESL One Los Angeles Major before it was canceled .

Geek Fam recounted the team’s experience leading up to cancellation of the Los Angeles Major, as well as the suspension of the DPC:

“Our team and management worked tirelessly to prepare our players for their visa interviews. After the initial celebration of clearing the USA Visa Qualifiers, all the excitement built up, when we went to Los Angeles a week before the Major started to avoid possible jet lag and practice with other teams. It brought us huge disappointment when the COVID lockdown in the USA was announced just 36 hours before the tournament was due to start. The announcement pushed us to the edge, and we had to fly out 24 hours after the announcement with only emotional baggage to carry back with us. We said goodbye to each other and ESL One LA, and flew all our players back to their respective countries.”

Once the scene shifted to online competitions, Geek Fam steadily improved and earned their place among the top teams in Southeast Asia. The team notably won back-to-back tournaments, namely BTS Pro Series SEA Season 2 in June and the ONE Esports Dota 2 SEA League in July, overtaking Fnatic as the best team in the region.

However, the team’s ascent was stymied when star carry player Marc Polo “Raven” Fausto departed for Fnatic at the end of July.

Geek Fam’s last participated in the ESL One Thailand Online Asian league, where they finished in 7th-8th place.

Geek Fam is now the second Southeast Asian Dota 2 team to be disbanded due to the continued suspension of the DPC, with Reality Rift being the first to release their roster at the start of the month.

The players on Geek Fam’s now-disbanded Dota 2 team, namely Karl “Karl” Jayme, Carlo “Kuku” Palad, Kenny “Xepher” Deo, and Matthew “Whitemon” Filemon, are now free agents.

“To Kuku, Karl, Xepher, Whitemon and even Raven, [Eric “Ryoya” Dong] and [Kim “Dubu” Doo-young]. Thank you for being part of the fam and you know it as well as we do, Once A Geek, Always A Fam!” said Geek Fam.

Geek Fam has disbanded its Dota 2 team