'Representing London is an honour' – Alicus returns to UK scene as Cloud9 acquire Laser Kittenz Overwatch roster

The rumour we heard was true – Cloud9 have picked up a new roster just days after they announced they had acquired a London spot in the Overwatch League.
Cloud9 have picked up Laser Kittenz – the EU Overwatch organisation set up by Misfits’ former general manager Ali “Alicus” Saba.
They have also signed Overwatch player Nevix from Misfits.
Alicus has moved across to Cloud9 and become their new Overwatch director.
He said: “It is a great honour to join Cloud9. Jack [Etienne, Cloud9 founder] is a true industry leader, and the iconic brand he has built here speaks for itself.
“I’m happy to be able to fully focus on equipping us with the best possible chance at winning Overwatch League, and the road starts now with Contenders.
“Representing London is a dream come true and marks my return to the UK scene. I look forward to making all our fans proud.”

ecstatic to announce i’ll be running overwatch operations for @Cloud9. representing london is an honor and marks my return to the UK scene.

— Alicus (@AlicusOfficial) August 14, 2017

I’m also thrilled to be reunited with my boy @Nevix_OW again. We’ll bring back the glory days. It’s time to do it big!

— Alicus(@AlicusOfficial) August 14, 2017

It’s not yet confirmed what will happen to Cloud9’s existing North American players, though in Cloud9’s announcement tweet, they said that they ‘Cloud9 expands its Overwatch roster’.
The news comes ahead of the EU Overwatch Contenders Season One. Laser Kittenz made the semi-finals in Season Zero.
It’s likely Cloud9’s new roster from Laser Kittenz could take part in both the Contenders and Overwatch League.
 

“Representing London is a dream come true and marks my return to the UK scene. I look forward to making all our fans proud.”
Alicus, Cloud9

 
In the Overwatch League, teams will take a split of overall revenues generated by the league. Slots are rumoured to cost around $20 million.
So far there are nine teams/owners: Cloud9 (London), Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (Los Angeles), New England Patriots (Boston), New York Mets (New York), NRG (San Francisco), Immortals (Los Angeles), Misfits (Miami/Orlando), NetEase (Shanghai) and Kabam (Seoul).
 
News source: Cloud9 announcement post

Dom Sacco

Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.

As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.