Just hours after leaving Newbee, Chinese AD Carry Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao has joined Royal Never Give Up.
The League of Legends player is one of the best in the region, helping lead Newbee (formerly Qiao Gu Reapers) to top the ladder in the LPL Spring Split, placing fourth in the playoffs. Uzi joined the team in December last year, when Reapers was acquired by Newbee, predominantly a Dota 2 organization known for winning The International (TI4) in 2014.
While it is not known how much Royal Never Give Up paid to have Uzi play in a starting role for them, during a previous transfer it was reported that his contract was worth just under $8 million.
Royal Never Give Up is coming off a 3rd/4th finish at the League Mid-Season Invitational last weekend, with the finals between NA team Counter Logic Gaming and South Korean team SK Telecom T1 wrapping up earlier today.
A video released on Weibo earlier this morning shows Uzi wearing a Royal Never Give Up jersey with his name on it. The organization has not announced what will happen to former AD Carries Wang “wuxx” Cheng and Zhu “NaMei” Jia-wen, who played with the team throughout the spring split.
With Uzi on board Royal Never Give Up will look to continue their dominance of the LPL in the summer split, for a chance to play at Worlds in North America later this year.
H/T theScore esports
