Sean Gares Fired From Team Solo Mid's CS:GO Team For Supporting PEA Open Letter

Earlier today an open letter was published, backed by more than a dozen eSports players from teams ranging from Counter Logic Gaming to Team Liquid. The letter described the current state of affairs at the Professional eSports Association, an organization that was created to offer new opportunity to players. Though, some elements of it have raised concern from players.

Professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player Sean Gares was one of the professional players tied to the letter, with his name shared in the footnotes. While he would later describe the letter as an opportunity to "stand up for ourselves as players", within hours he learned that Team Solo Mid founder Andy "Reginald" Dinh wasn't happy about it.

As it turns out, the letter wasn't in the best interest of many team organizations, including Team Solo Mid which Sean Gares was a member of. This prompted severe backlash from Reginald, eventually leading to Sean Gares' removal from Team Solo Mid. The firing was done via text message, which ended with the following words by Reginald:

Let's talk about how we can separate as soon as possible. I'll have my lawyer draft a termination agreement. Not looking for any trade or buyout.

The heated conversation that transitioned from Twitter PM to phone text was published on Imgur by Sean Gares and soon after shared on Twitter (viewable in the gallery below) to his more than 133,000 followers. With more than 30,000 views within an hour, it has become the hottest topic among eSports fans.

The significance of the stories lies on Sean Gares' value. Considered one of the greatest Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in-game leaders/strategists in North America, he's played a critical role in many teams he's played on. He had the most success with Cloud 9 during 2015, but during the past 12 months he's played for three separate teams: Torqued, Echo Fox, and Team Solo Mid.

Interestingly enough, Gares joined Team Solo Mid on December 14th, just eight days ago, making this move particularly abrasive.

Several industry experts have already voiced their disappointment in the move by Reginald. For example, professional caster Alex "AwesomeSauce" Greenlee stated the following:

I am honestly so triggered by @TSMReginald firing @seangares over his stance on PEA open letter. This is how you run your ship? Better abort

Sean Gares' popularity, in addition to the reason for the firing, has already caused widespread fan lashback. Thousands of eSports fans have shown support for him via social media, with very few taking the side of Reginald.

Due to this move, Team Solo Mid's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster will only include four active players and a coach consisting of SicK, Twistzz, Relyks, ShahZaM, and Valens.