Space Soldiers
Full nameSpace Gaming A.Ş.
Short nameSpaceS
SportCS:GO
FIFA 17
Founded2014
DisbandedOctober 2018
LocationIstanbul, Turkey
ColoursYellow and Black
CEOBünyamin Aydın
Head coachCanpolat "hardstyle" Yıldıran
CaptainEngin "MAJ3R" Küpeli
Main sponsorByNoGame.com

Space Soldiers was a Turkish professional esports organization founded in 2014 by Bünyamin Aydın. The organization consisted of a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive division and a FIFA division, the former of which also had an academy team.

The Counter-Strike team was created in January 2015. It had minor roster changes in early 2016. The team attended two Major championships, ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018 and FACEIT Major: London 2018. They also finished 2nd in WESG 2017.

The organization ceased operations on 13 October 2018 after it controversially parted ways with its Counter-Strike team.

History

In 2014, the organization was founded as Space Gaming A.Ş. by Turkish investor Bünyamin Aydın.[1]

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Space Soldiers announced its CS:GO team on 17 January 2015, consisting of Emre "⁠e1⁠" Biçer, Ismailcan "⁠XANTARES⁠" Dörtkardeş, Cihan "⁠ONLY⁠" Gönek, Tugay "⁠TuGuX⁠" Keskin and Çağatay "⁠DESPE⁠" Sedef.[2] The first roster change came in January 2016, when ⁠e1 was dropped in favour of Engin "⁠ngiN⁠" Kor.[3] Ahmet "⁠paz⁠" Karahoca made his debut with Space Soldiers on 18 February.[4] A month later, Space Soldiers reached the semi-finals of Copenhagen Games 2016.[5]

On 15 November 2016, the team released TuGuX.[6] He was replaced by Engin "MAJ3R" Küpeli, who joined on trial on 26 November.[7] He was officially signed to the team on 8 February 2017.[8] On 13 February, Space Soldiers signed Buğra "⁠Calyx⁠" Arkın to create a six-man roster.[9] In September 2017, Space Soldiers won the GeForce Cup 2017.[10] During the same month, the team qualified for ESL One Cologne 2017.[11] The team went against SK Gaming, the number 1 ranked team at the time, in the first match, and won the game 16–14.[12] The team lost the other three games, finishing the tournament in 12-14th.[13]

In January 2018, Space Soldiers became the first Turkish team to qualify for a Major by securing a spot in the ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018 after defeating AVANGAR, Misfits Gaming and mousesports in the Challengers stage.[14] This meant that the team and players also got in-game stickers of themselves.[15] The team beat the eventual champions Cloud9 during their second game in the Major,[16] but later lost to mousesports and was eliminated without making it to the play-offs.[17] The team reached the grand final of WESG 2017 after beating GODSENT and Team Russia in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively.[18] In the grand-final, Space Soldiers faced Fnatic, and were ahead 14–7 on the final map, but lost 14–16 after a comeback.[19]

In March 2018, Space Soldiers was ranked as the 12th best team by HLTV's weekly updated rankings.[20] In June, the team won DreamHack Open Austin 2018 after beating Rogue in 2–1 the final.[21] ngiN failed to get a visa in time for the FACEIT Major: London in September, which meant that coach Canpolat "hardstyle" Yıldıran had to play instead of him.[22] The team lost all three matches they played in the main qualifier.[23]

Space Soldiers was invited to BLAST Pro Series Istanbul which took place on 28–29 September 2018.[24] The team finished the tournament in 4th in front of home crowd.[25] On 13 October 2018, it was announced that the organization parted ways with its CS:GO players.[26] The decision to separate was made a month prior, on 15 September.[27]

FIFA

The organization had Emre "Riv9" Kayır under contract, who participated in World Cup qualifiers in December 2017.[28] In March 2018, he went to Barcelona to participate in the FUT 18 Champions Cup.[29]

Achievements

In the last 3 years of existence, the team has stayed with the same core players, with the following achievements:

Tournament Tier Placement
DreamHack Austin 2018 A-Tier 1st
ESL Pro League Season 7 Europe S-Tier 5th
WESG 2017 S-Tier 2nd
ELEAGUE Major 2018 European Minor A-Tier 1st
ESEA MDL Season 25 Global Challenge A-Tier 1st
GeForce Cup 2017 B-Tier 1st
WESG 2016 S-Tier 4th
WESG Middle East Championship 2016 B-Tier 1st
ASUS Rog Summer 2016 B-Tier 1st
Copenhagen Games 2016 A-Tier 3rd-4th

Controversies

ESL ban

In September 2017, Space Soldiers' 6th and reserve player, Çağatay "DESPE" Sedef got banned for 2 years by ESL,[30] making him unable to stand-in in ESL tournaments in case it was needed. Space Soldiers made an announcement on Twitter, saying that they were in talk with the German organizers.[31] Eventually, the ban was lifted by ESL, saying that the ban was unwarranted.[32]

Spitting incident

On 13 June 2018, Space Soldiers played the opening match of ESL One Belo Horizonte 2018 against home heroes SK Gaming.[33] In the opening ceremony, the players passed through the fans. After the match, Engin "MAJ3R" Küpeli said on Twitter that some of the fans spat on them.[34] Players of SK Gaming responded saying that they are sorry for what happened. 2 days later at signing day, MAJ3R received a letter of apology from multiple fans.[35]

Disbanding

In May 2018, all CS:GO players changed their profile pictures on Steam to completely black, instead of the logo of Space Soldiers.[26] There were rumours about the low salaries of players long before this.[36] In September 2018, the two sides agreed to part their ways, but not before they attended a major tournament in home soil Turkey, BLAST Pro Series Istanbul, for the last time.[27] In an interview later, former Space Soldiers captain Engin "MAJ3R" Küpeli said that the organization "didn't fulfill the promises made" and that "it was run by amateurs." He added that he really liked the Aydın family, but said that they hired people who didn't have any experience in esports and that Bünyamin Aydın was busy with his clothing company.[37]

References

  1. ^ "Space Soldiers – Hakkımızda". Space Soldiers. 24 January 2018. Archived from the original on 24 January 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  2. ^ MIRAA (17 January 2015). "Space Soldiers go official". HLTV. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  3. ^ MIRAA (5 January 2016). "Space Soldiers add ngiN". HLTV. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  4. ^ Ege Keser (19 April 2018). "Geçmişten Günümüze: paz". Playerbros. Archived from the original on 21 May 2022. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  5. ^ MIRAA (27 March 2016). "HellRaisers win CPH Games". HLTV. Archived from the original on 12 March 2022. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  6. ^ Connor Bradley (15 November 2016). "Space Soldiers say Goodbye to TuGuX". Dotesports. Archived from the original on 16 June 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  7. ^ H3nley (26 November 2016). "Space Soldiers Try Out MAJ3R". Dotesports. Archived from the original on 12 June 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2022.((cite web)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ BenjaCS (8 February 2017). "MAJ3R officially joins Space Soldiers". HLTV. Archived from the original on 7 February 2022. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  9. ^ Professeur (13 February 2017). "Calyx joins Space Soldiers". HLTV. Archived from the original on 30 January 2022. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  10. ^ "Space Soldiers'tan bir başarı daha!". Hürriyet Sporarena. 7 September 2016. Archived from the original on 14 November 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  11. ^ "Space Soldiers'tan büyük başarı!". Hürriyet Sporarena. 7 September 2016. Archived from the original on 13 October 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  12. ^ Callum Leslie (4 July 2017). "Space Soldiers stun SK Gaming in ESL Cologne opening round". Dotesports. Archived from the original on 22 June 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  13. ^ MIRAA (9 July 2017). "SK defeat Cloud9 to win ESL One Cologne". HLTV. Archived from the original on 25 October 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  14. ^ "Soldiers hayallerine ulaştı, Türkiyeyi gururlandırdı!". Fanatik. 15 January 2018. Archived from the original on 14 November 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  15. ^ "Space Soldiers Bir Gururu Daha Yaşattı". Fanatik. 25 December 2017. Archived from the original on 13 November 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  16. ^ "Space Soldiers, Cloud9'ı devirmeyi başardı". Fanatik. 21 January 2018. Archived from the original on 13 November 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  17. ^ Mert Ünal (23 January 2018). "Eline Sağlık Space Soldiers". Sporx. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  18. ^ "CS:GO WESG'te Space Soldiers ikinci oldu!". Hürriyet. 19 March 2018. Archived from the original on 6 April 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  19. ^ "Space Soldiers şampiyonluğu son anda kaçırdı". Hürriyet Sporarena. 19 March 2018. Archived from the original on 14 November 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  20. ^ "Space Soldiers büyük oynuyor". Hürriyet Sporarena. 22 March 2018. Archived from the original on 20 November 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  21. ^ "Bir Space Soldiers klasiği!". Milliyet Skorer. 4 June 2018. Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  22. ^ Veronika Rodriguez (4 September 2018). "NgiN to Miss FACEIT London Major After Failing to Acquire a Visa". DBLTAP. Archived from the original on 13 June 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  23. ^ Ege Keser (8 September 2018). "FACEIT Major 2018 yolunda üçüncü gün sonuçlandı, Space Soldiers veda etti!". Playerbros. Archived from the original on 22 May 2022. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  24. ^ "BLAST Pro Series İstanbul ile dev e-spor turnuvasında final heyecanı". Hürriyet. 27 August 2018. Archived from the original on 28 August 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  25. ^ "BLAST Pro Series İstanbul'da şampiyon Astralis". Hürriyet Sporarena. 29 September 2018. Archived from the original on 19 October 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  26. ^ a b Emre Can Kartal (13 October 2018). "Space Soldiers dağıldı, detayları XANTARES paylaştı". Playerbros. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  27. ^ a b BenjaCS (14 October 2018). "ex-Space Soldiers: "We unilaterally rescinded our contracts on September 15"". HLTV. Archived from the original on 15 July 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  28. ^ "Emre Kayır Riv9dan bir ilk!". Fanatik. Archived from the original on 2021-03-30. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
  29. ^ "Space Soldiers Ekibinden Riv9 Barcelona Yolunda! | GameXNow.com". January 25, 2018. Archived from the original on August 2, 2018. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  30. ^ "Space Soldiers comment on DESPE's ESL ban". HLTV.org. Archived from the original on 2020-08-28. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
  31. ^ @SpaceSoldiersTR (September 21, 2017). "We are in touch with the ESL about the false accusation towards our club and our player "DESPE", who allegedly violated ESL rules" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  32. ^ "DESPE ban lifted by ESL". HLTV.org. Archived from the original on 2020-11-12. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
  33. ^ "HLTV.org - The home of competitive Counter-Strike". HLTV.org. Archived from the original on 2020-11-18. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  34. ^ @Maj3r_ (June 15, 2018). "I let him my team down on d2 but seriously that was the first time in my career since 1,6 i feel new emotion my god…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  35. ^ "MAJ3R Receives Apology Letter From Brazilian Fans After Spitting Incident at ESL One Belo Horizonte". dbltap.com. June 17, 2018. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  36. ^ "Space Soldiers CS:GO Takımı Neden Dağıldı?". October 15, 2018. Archived from the original on January 23, 2021. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  37. ^ Kaya, Burak (July 28, 2019). "Maj3r: "Space Soldiers verdiği sözleri tutmadı"". Archived from the original on May 15, 2021. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
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