After suffering early exits at every international VALORANT event this year, popular Japanese organization ZETA DIVISION might be coming into 2024 with a clean slate.
The team is reportedly putting up its entire VALORANT roster for sale and will be looking to field a new team for the new year, according to a Sept. 4 report from esports reporter Seulgi. Last month, ZETA DIVISION hinted at widespread roster changes after announcing an open application period and possible tryouts for the main lineup this past August.
Although this does mark the end of an era with the organization, there is still a chance that some of these players return to ZETA DIVISION for 2024, since the team is still supposedly willing to keep some of the players if certain deals do not go through. However, there is a high possibility that this fan favorite squad will not look the same next season.
ZETA DIVISION featured some of the best Japanese VALORANT stars on its roster, including in-game leader Koji “Laz” Ushida, who is widely regarded as the best player in the region. They also have Shota “SugarZ3ro” Watanabe, a 20-year-old rising star that still possesses a ton of potential for his career as a Controller.
This past year was, however, relatively disappointing, with ZETA DIVISION first dropping out early at the LOCK//IN tournament in São Paulo. They struggled in the Pacific League and finished in fourth place during the regular season, but managed to keep things together for the Last Chance Qualifier, where they beat Team Secret for Pacific’s final slot at Champions.
At Champions, however, the team fumbled their way through the group stage by losing against FNATIC and NRG Esports in back-to-back series. In the end, the year was lackluster and might be prompting some massive changes that could shift the team’s future into a different direction for 2024.
