ENCE file for bankruptcy after 13 years: farewell to the team that took Finland to a Major final
Another historic organisation is saying goodbye. ENCE announced on 26 October that its board of directors has decided to file for bankruptcy, ending thirteen years of activity for the most successful organisation in Finnish esports.
The announcement
ENCE made the announcement on X with a short message: "After thirteen years, ENCE's board of directors has made the difficult decision to file for bankruptcy." In the statement, the organisation thanked its players, staff, partners and fans.
The club didn't detail its reasons, but the accounts point in a clear direction. According to Ilta-Sanomat, as reported by Finnish public broadcaster Yle, ENCE posted losses of almost a million euros last year.
The current team
The news comes in the middle of a rebuild. In April, ENCE dropped its international roster and promoted its Finnish academy, with teme, millert, Schwarz, joeski and HENU, joined by Aleksi "allu" Jalli as head coach in June. The team sits outside the VRS top 100 and hasn't played a top-tier event since September 2024.
allu responded on X with a single word, "heartbroken", and said he would make a more detailed statement once things settle. There's no word yet on what happens to the players.
From the Katowice final to "EZ4ENCE"
Founded in 2013 in Helsinki, ENCE had its defining moment in 2019. An all-Finnish roster led by Aleksib defied the odds to reach the Katowice Major final, where it lost to Astralis. That team turned the "EZ4ENCE" chant into a phenomenon: the song has more than 20 million views on YouTube. The same year it won BLAST Pro Series Madrid.
After a semi-final at the 2022 Antwerp Major, a second golden era came with an international roster led by Snappi. In 2023 it won IEM Dallas, with SunPayus as event MVP, and reached the finals of IEM Cologne and Gamers8. In December that year, the core of that team was sold to Falcons, and ENCE went through several rebuilds without regaining that level.
Beyond Counter-Strike, ENCE also had Serral, who in 2018 became the first non-Korean player to win the StarCraft II World Championship.
A dark week for organisations
ENCE's closure comes just six days after Evil Geniuses announced its end, citing a lack of sponsorship and the cost of competing at the top level. Two historic names gone in the same week.
And there's a bittersweet twist: the leading figures of ENCE's two great eras are still at the top. Aleksib is now NAVI's captain, and SunPayus, MVP of the club's last big title, has just taken FUT into the PGL Masters Bucharest playoffs.
Source: HLTV, Yle, Ilta-Sanomat.