Why is Banks “rebooting” FaZe Clan? Kicked creators, new members, more
FaZe/BanksFaZe Clan has undergone major changes since FaZe Banks began to kick members out of the org as part of a controversial “rework.” Here’s everything you need to know.
Esports and entertainment organization FaZe Clan has been experiencing a major restructuring phase since February 2023 when it dropped roughly 20% of its employees amid struggles as a publicly traded company.
Later that year, GameSquare, the owners of Code Red Esports and Complexity Gaming, acquired FaZe Clan and appointed Richard ‘FaZe Banks’ Bengtson as the company’s CEO.
Come April 2024, Banks announced that 110 employees had been terminated in an effort to keep the company alive.
Later that month, Banks would make his biggest move yet, completely rebooting FaZe by kicking out some of its most loyal and long-term content creators.
FaZe Banks explains why multiple members were kicked
Banks justified the move in a divisive post on X, claiming that one of the biggest issues facing the org was a unified “vision” and called the rebrand a “second chance.”
“FaZe Clan is the next Nike,” he wrote. “It will outlive any one person that wears the name. This is a very important story being told, a movie playing in real time.”
What FaZe Clan members were kicked in the reboot?
As such, FaZe Blaze, Nate Hill, Kalei, Dirty, Booya, Kitty, JSmooth, H1ghSKy1, Linkzy, Bloo, Agony, Sway, Proze, Nio, Faxuty, Cizzorz, and Rain were all kicked from the org.
The news caught many by surprise, with some creators, such as Faxuty, only finding out they were no longer part of FaZe through their Twitch chat.
Warzone star Kalei teared up during a live stream while discussing her removal from the group, revealing that she hadn’t made any money as part of FaZe and was sad with how things ended up, calling the situation “not fair.”
Many others, however, took their removal in stride, and thanked the org for the memories. Nio, for instance, said it was an “honor to represent the org” during his time with the company.
Who is in FaZe Clan after the reboot?
Aside from its esports rosters, only fourteen members remained: Adapt, Apex, Banks, Jev, Kaysan, NICKMERCS, Replays, Ronaldo, Rug, Scope, Swagg, Temperrr, Your Rage, Zooma, and Fakie.
NICKMERCS, one of FaZe’s longest-serving and biggest stars, claimed to have no idea about the direction the org was taking, but offered his own speculation about the events.
“I think that the general census is they just want a fresh start, a clean start, they want to tighten it up and then expand it how they want, which I can understand,” he said.
Since the “reboot,” FaZe has added four new members: PlaqueBoy Max, SilkySzn, Jason Ween and Lacy, completing its roster.
It’s unclear what more Banks has up his sleeve as part of this revamp of the org and what its future will hold, but it seems unlikely that there will be any surprise roster announcements anytime soon.
Following the announcement of Lacy, Banks confirmed that the roster was a “wrap.” He has also remained adamant that the changes were all for the best, remarking that “people will study what we did this week.”
