Gentle Mates have released all five active VALORANT players and both coaches, the French organisation said in a farewell post on X. The players thanked are marteen, starxo, Minny, Proxh and H1ber. Head coach Jiri "KUNDIKUNDI" Honkala and assistant coach Erim "Mavera" Sasal also left the club.
The moves come ahead of the team's first season as a VCT partner team in 2027. The Mates will start that project without any players or coaches from their 2026 line-up.
The 2026 season ended poorly after a strong start. The team finished second at EMEA Kickoff, where marteen set a new kill record for a best-of-five series. That result earned a trip to Masters Santiago, where the Mates went 2-2 and exited in the top eight.
According to VLR.gg, the team went 2-3 in the Stage 1 group stage, and head coach Pavle "pakko" Kostic was replaced by KUNDIKUNDI. The team later lost to Eintracht Frankfurt in the play-ins. VLR.gg also reported earlier this month that KUNDIKUNDI was looking for a new team, and that starxo and bipo had been allowed to explore their options.
Riot Games selected Gentle Mates as one of its partner teams for the next era of the VALORANT Champions Tour, so the club's place in EMEA is secure. Esports.net reports that the team's roster and coaching choices are now open.