Finnish esports organization ENCE (officially ENCE eSports Oy) has announced the cessation of operations and filed for bankruptcy after 13 years of existence. This decision marks the end of the club's history, which left a notable mark on global esports and repeatedly secured victories at top-tier tournaments.
A deep financial crisis became the main reason for the closure. According to reports, ENCE's losses over the past two years amounted to approximately €1.5 million. While the company had about €88,000 left in its bank accounts at the end of 2024, this amount plummeted to a critical €2,000 by the end of 2025.
In its official statement, the board of directors called this decision the "end of an era." The management expressed gratitude to the players, staff, partners, and fans who supported the team through victories and defeats.
ENCE gained its highest popularity through its performances in StarCraft II and Counter-Strike. In StarCraft II, the club was represented from 2016 to 2023 by Finnish player Joona "Serral" Sotala. He won dozens of titles, including IEM Katowice 2022, and made history in 2018 as the first non-South Korean player to win the WCS Global Finals.
In Counter-Strike, the club became famous for its all-Finnish roster, which emerged as a genuine threat to world leaders in 2018–2019. After winning StarSeries & i-League Season 6, the team reached the grand final of the IEM Katowice Major 2019, where they fell to Astralis. However, the Finns took their revenge at BLAST Pro Series Madrid, defeating the Danes 2:0 in the final.
The historic 2018–2019 roster:
Following the controversial decision to replace captain aleksib with suNny, results began to decline. ENCE fully returned to the big stage only in 2023 after a massive rebuild. The international roster, led by coach sAw and captain Snappi (featuring stars SunPayus and NertZ), won the prestigious IEM Dallas 2023. However, in December of that year, the core of this lineup was sold to Team Falcons.
The club's last major achievement was the unexpected victory of the revamped roster led by Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander at Elisa Espoo 2024, where they defeated HEROIC in the grand final. Since then, the team failed to break out of the Tier-2/Tier-3 scene. In March 2026, ENCE attempted to reboot its CS2 project by returning to the all-Finnish roster concept, but financial troubles ultimately forced the organization to shut down.
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