APEKS Statement:

It’s with a heavy heart that we share the following news. As of this week, Ava “Florescent” Eugene will retire for the remainder of the 2025 VCT season. Ava started playing Valorant at the age of 14 and proceeded to sign her first professional 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. Despite working closely with Ava and her agent to find solutions over the past couple months, we’ve come to the mutual conclusion that  it’s not right for Ava to continue to play. Sometimes life gets in the way of our competitive goals, and that’s part of the game. Ava has built strong relationships with our players and staff during the time she’s spent with us. Although we are saddened to see her leave, we hope to see her benefit from this time off, and that we will eventually see her return to competitive Valorant in the future. 

When we first announced Ava as part of our 2025 roster, it was immediately met with criticism and skepticism from a small part of the community. We couldn’t be more proud of her for almost immediately silencing the doubters and proving exactly what we knew all along. We believe that the top Game Changers players are more than capable of competing in VCL and VCT. We can’t thank Ava – the first ever Game Changers Graduate – enough for allowing us to prove that so unequivocally. We would like to thank Riot Games for all their support and efforts to assist with this situation. Last but not least, a huge ‘Thank you!’ to all the fans who’ve supported Apeks and Ava since the start of the year. 

Florescent Statement:

I’m going to be taking off the rest of the 2025 VCT season to rest up and recharge. I may return to competing again in the future but that isn’t something I’m putting much thought into right now.

2024 was a very busy year for me. I relocated to EMEA for bootcamp just days after GC Champs ended and that grind has been catching up to me. I’ve also been dealing with some personal and family emergencies through Kick/off and Split 1. My teammates have been very supportive of me during this time but I want them to be able to focus on Split 2 without any interruptions.

This was very much my decision and not that of Apeks, our coaching staff, etc. Several other VCT teams even showed interest in buying out my contract these last couple weeks and Apeks told me I could explore those options for Split 2 if anything made me happy and allowed me to continue competing. I’m sharing this because I’d really like to ask the community and fans to avoid directing negative comments toward Apeks. They really did prioritize my happiness and career in every decision they’ve made this year.

The relocation to EMEA was very challenging and I didn’t always feel at home while in Germany but I want to quickly thank Apeks management and my teammates who all welcomed and supported me over the last few months. Also, thank you to Riot ops and the other pros in VCT EMEA who have all been really kind to me and go out of their way to make sure I’m doing well.