Florescent to depart Apeks Valorant Champions Tour squad

The first female player to properly compete in the competitive series will be exiting after just a few months.

In December, Ava "Florescent" Eugene made history by becoming the first female player to compete in the male-dominated Valorant Champions Tour. Following absolutely crushing it in the Game Changers division, Florescent seemed to have a bright future in the VCT, something that was confirmed when she signed with Apeks' main squad. However, this has not been as fruitful as either party would have hoped, as now the two are parting ways.

In a statement, Apeks notes that Florescent will be retiring from the VCT 2025 season. The reason seems to be that Florescent hasn't found it particularly easy to relocate to Berlin, Germany to be part of Apeks' team, with it taking a toll on her personal life.

Specifically, Apeks add: "Ava started playing Valorant at the age of 14 and proceeded to sign her first contract at 15. Having competed at the highest level in Valorant ever since, she's had to sacrifice the majority of her teenage years in order to compete, which has eventually started taking its toll. Relocating to Berlin also created a bigger distance between her and her friends and family at home."

Apeks does note that despite being a bit disappointed that it has come to this, they "couldn't be more proud" of Florescent for "almost immediately silencing the doubters and proving exactly what we knew all along."

It's unclear who Apeks will be targeting as Florescent's replacement, but the team did also recently part ways with Peter "Governor" No, meaning it has two open slots on its active roster.