SK Gaming is a professional

esports Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...

organization based in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

that has teams across the world competing in different titles. SK is particularly known for their success in ''

Counter-Strike ''Counter-Strike'' (''CS'') is a series of multiplayer tactical first-person shooter video games in which teams of terrorists battle to perpetrate an act of terror (bombing, hostage-taking, assassination) while counter-terrorists try to preven ...

'' (CS) tournaments. SK's

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian ''CS'' team won the

ESL One Cologne 2016 ESL One Cologne 2016, also known as ESL Cologne Major 2016 or Cologne 2016, was an Electronic Sports League Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament. It was the ninth '' Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'' Major Championship and was held at ...

Major. SK currently has players and teams competing in ''

League of Legends ''League of Legends'' (''LoL''), commonly referred to as ''League'', is a 2009 multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a Mod (video games), custom map for War ...

'' and '' Hearthstone''. SK Gaming was founded in 1997 by a small group of '' Quake'' players in

Oberhausen Oberhausen (, ) is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen ( ). The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Rout ...

History

Beginnings

Schroet Kommando was founded in 1997 as a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

'' Quake''

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...

by four brothers and three accomplices in

. The original line-up of Schroet Kommando consisted of Ralf "Griff" Reichert, Daniel "Godlike" Beames, Tim "Burke" Reichert, Benjamin "Kane" Reichert, Kristof "Speed" Salwiczek, Carsten "Storch" Kramer and Sven "Ramses" Tümmers. According to Ralf Reichert, the original naming of the organization originated from one of the members repeatedly shouting "Schröt!" This was a common occurrence from whenever a

double-barreled shotgun A double-barreled shotgun is a break-action shotgun with two parallel barrels, allowing two single shots to be fired in quick succession or simultaneously. Construction Modern double-barreled shotguns, often known as ''doubles'', are almost u ...

would be handled, due to the translation meaning ''"shrapnel"''. Eventually, the team adopted this into their name, thus becoming "Schroet Kommando". Since then, the organization began using their abbreviation more often, until it eventually became SK Gaming. Initially, the Beames family home operated as the Schroet Kommando headquarters, concentrating primarily upon the ''Quake series''. Early on, Schroet Kommando became one of the first clans to feature an all-female team; the most notable of which was Annemarie "XS" Warnkross, who later became a well-known host on German television. The organization expanded into ''

'', where it became known as one of the most-successful squads in all of Germany. In September 2001,

Andreas "bds" Thorstensson Andreas Thorstensson (born 29 January 1979) is a Swedish entrepreneur, web developer, video game developer and former professional gamer of ''Counter-Strike'', playing under the in-game name bds. Having worked alongside Alexander T. Müller-R ...

merged his ''Geekboys'' team and news syndicate with that of SK Gaming, with a long-term prospect of emphasizing the success of his own organization. Thorstensson revolutionized

electronic sports Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although org ...

by having SK act as the first organization to have payable premium services (''"SK Insider"'', a virtual marketplace in which subscribers could download demos (replays), mods and add-ons better and earlier than others, talk directly to SK gamers etc.). The organization's international Counter-Strike success came when they signed on the players of the successful

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

''Counter-Strike'' clan

Ninjas in Pyjamas Ninjas in Pyjamas (NIP) is a professional esports organisation based in Sweden that is best known for its ''Counter-Strike'' teams. In 2012, the team reformed with a '' Counter Strike: Global Offensive'' lineup upon the release of the game. Asi ...

. In 2003, SK Gaming became the first electronic sports organization to contract players, beginning with the SK Sweden ''Counter-Strike'' squad.

Later years

The 2006 season brought no successes to the ''Counter-Strike'' team, the most notable of which, the team failed to qualify for the

Electronic Sports World Cup The Electronic Sports World Convention (ESWC) (formerly known as Electronic Sports World Cup) is an international professional gaming championship. Every year, winners of national qualifier events around the world earn the right to represent thei ...

, in which

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

was represented by rivals Ninjas in Pyjamas and the developing

Fnatic Fnatic (pronounced "fanatic"; also stylized as fnatic or FNATIC) is a professional esports organization headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Founded 23 July 2004, the team has players from around the world, across a variety of games, such ...

team. Thereafter, the team managed to qualify for the KODE5 finals, where they won two matches and lost to the Brazilians from Made in Brazil during the group stages. They then lost to Wisdom Nerve Victory in the single elimination round, placing fifth to eighth overall. Success did come for the ''

Quake 4 ''Quake 4'' is a 2005 military science fiction first-person shooter video game developed by Raven Software and published by Activision. It is the fourth title in the ''Quake'' series, after the multiplayer ''Quake III Arena'', and a sequel to ' ...

'' squad however, as the Swedish star player

Johan "Toxic" Quick Johan * Johan (given name) * ''Johan'' (film), a 1921 Swedish film directed by Mauritz Stiller * Johan (band), a Dutch pop-group ** ''Johan'' (album), a 1996 album by the group * Johan Peninsula, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada * Jo-Han, a manu ...

managed to win eight out of the ten major tournaments during that year, including four out of five

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

. Meanwhile, the ''

FIFA 06 ''FIFA 06'', known as ''FIFA Soccer 06'' in North America, is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. It was released in the United States on 4 October 2005 for the Play ...

'' squad had a successful year, as the team managed to win the prestigious

Electronic Sports League The ESL Gaming GmbH, doing business as ESL (formerly known as Electronic Sports League), is a German esports organizer and production company that produces video game competitions worldwide. ESL was the world's largest esports company in 2015, ...

Pro Series twice, and the German player Daniel "hero" Schellhase won the

World Cyber Games The World Cyber Games (WCG) is an international esports competition with multi-game titles in which hundreds of esports athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competitions also known as Esports Olympics. WCG events attempt to ...

championship. In 2008, SK Gaming began to invest in ''

World of Warcraft ''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the ''Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of Warcraft'' takes place within the world of Azeroth ...

'' and shortly before the release of the Sunwell Plateau, the final and most challenging raid encounter of '' World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade'', the organization sponsored Curse, one of the highest-ranked guilds at the time. SK Gaming's German competitor,

Mousesports Mouz (stylized as MOUZ), formerly mousesports, is a professional esports organisation based in Germany. It fields teams in several games but is particularly known for its '' CS:GO'' team. MOUZ was one of the founding members of the G7 Teams. ...

, had significantly commanded the recognition with maintaining Nihilum, the most-successful guild in the world, achieving a strong majority of world first raid kills. The newly recruited SK.PvE squad, however, had a strong winning streak during the Sunwell Plateau and completed most of the instance's boss kills first. Due to differences in interests, the PvE team was dismissed, with a stronger emphasis upon the PvP aspect. Near the end of 2008, SK Gaming entered the competitive console scene, with acquisition of a German

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the na ...

team.

Stability issues and reorganization

Beginning in the fall of 2009, the ''Counter-Strike'' squad would encounter long-term stability issues, as long-time member Kristoffer "Tentpole" Nordlund and Marcus "zet" Sundström were removed from the roster for disagreements and misrepresentation issues. The roster began refocusing with the acquisition of H2k Gaming players Johan "face" Klasson and Frej "kHRYSTAL" Sjöström, which gained its best respective victory two weeks after the change with a gold medal victory against

. 2009 marked the conclusion of managing director and partial owner Andreas Thorstensson's tenure, as he stepped down from SK Gaming to further pursue his web development career, giving full executive authority to Alexander T. Müller-Rodic, thereby making SK Gaming a singular German organization. Alongside Thorstensson's departure, the highly successful ''

Warcraft III ''Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos'' is a high fantasy real-time strategy computer video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment released in July 2002. It is the second sequel to ''Warcraft: Orcs & Humans'', after ''Warcraft II: Tides ...

'' departed, as well, in order to make way for SK Gaming to operate as a more conservative business. To accommodate for the ''Counter-Strike'' stability issues, SK Gaming announced the replacement of Frej "kHRYSTAL" Sjöström with the former

player Rasmus "GuX" Ståhl. In one of the greatest controversies in electronic sports history, the organization Fnatic arranged for Rasmus "GuX" Ståhl to rejoin their ''Counter-Strike'' team, after a series of failed performances. Ståhl did not technically sign his contract with SK after five months, while still receiving months of payment and was intended to attend Arbalet Dallas with his team, after his plane ticket was purchased. However, it was revealed through Ståhl's message logs that Fnatic had paid him not to use SK's ticket to Dallas Despite the closure of SK's investment into the Action RTS scene with the departure of its ''

Defense of the Ancients ''Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA'') is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) mod for the video game '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos'' (2002) and its expansion, '' The Frozen Throne''. The objective of the game is for each team to destroy ...

'' team in 2009, SK Gaming took in a squad for the relatively unknown title ''

Avalon Heroes ''Avalon Heroes'', known as ''Avalon Online'' in Asia, was a free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena video game developed by WeMade Entertainment for Microsoft Windows. The game is heavily based on '' Warcraft III: The Frozen Thrones'' popular ...

'' in 2010, as well as an American ''

Heroes of Newerth ''Heroes of Newerth'' (''HoN'') was a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game originally developed by S2 Games for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. The game idea was derived from the ''Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne'' custom ma ...

'' squad and a European ''

'' squad. In August 2010, welcomed back ''

'' veteran Fredrik "MaDFroG" Johansson, with the creation of the organization's ''

StarCraft II ''StarCraft II'' is a military science fiction video game created by Blizzard Entertainment as a sequel to the successful ''StarCraft'' video game released in 1998. Set in a fictional future, the game centers on a galactic struggle for dominance ...

'' division. 2010 marked the final year in which SK Gaming would support ''World of Warcraft'', with the removal of its European, American and Asian squads, as well as the unannounced closure of its Sansibar squad. On 3 December, it was announced that the German ''

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

'' duo of Daniel "hero" Schellhase and Dennis "styla" Schellhase would be retiring from eSports, following a joint brotherly career as the most-successful virtual sports players of all time. In a massive ''Counter-Strike'' roster overhaul on 7 December, SK Gaming signed on the departing Fnatic players Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg and Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund, (the latter of whom played for the organization previously), while also seeing the departure of Dennis "walle" Wallenberg. On 21 December, it was announced that SK Gaming would be closing its ''Counter-Strike'' female team, as well as its short-lived ''Counter-Strike: Source'' team, in order to retain a more conservative roster for 2011. The first development of 2011 constituted the trimming of the Xbox 360 sports roster and the addition of a competitive '' Call of Duty: Black Ops'' team, as well as the addition of newcomers Hun "inuh" Park and Jimmy "jimpo" Wölfinger to the ''StarCraft II'' team. These new ''StarCraft II'' players would, however, become the entirety of the division, as it was soon announced afterwards that Fredrik "MaDFroG" Johansson would not be given a contract for 2011. On 16 January, it was announced that SK Gaming would be adding another United States ''Counter-Strike'' division, which would include former SK Gaming female member Alice "ali" Lew. On 28 February, SK Gaming announced that

Toshiba , commonly known as Toshiba and stylized as TOSHIBA, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure system ...

would be taking the reins of main sponsor from

Acer Inc. Acer Inc. ( ) is a Taiwanese multinational hardware and electronics corporation specializing in advanced electronics technology, headquartered in Xizhi, New Taipei City. Its products include desktop PCs, laptop PCs ( clamshells, 2-in-1s, co ...

, which had served as the primary sponsor since 2009. On 12 March, SK Gaming announced the additions of the up and rising ''StarCraft II'' Dane Johannes Sabroe "Joe" Witt, as well as a ''

Bloodline Champions ''Bloodline Champions'' is a free-to-play action game developed by the Swedish company Stunlock Studios. ''Bloodline Champions'' won both "Game of the Year" and "Winner XNA" in the Swedish Game Awards 2009. The game officially launched in the U ...

'' squad. On 4 April, five-year ''Counter-Strike'' player, Jimmy "allen" Allén, announced his inactivity, due to considerable health ailments, setting the stage for the trial replacement, Dennis "dennis" Edman. However, on 23 May, SK Gaming declared that Edman would no longer be playing for the organization and that Allén would participate in the WCG Swedish Qualifier the following weekend. On 29 May, however, a permanent replacement was made with the still-contracted Fnatic player and former SK stand-in, Marcus "Delpan" Larsson. On 23 June, following a disappointing Dreamhack appearance, SK Gaming's ''League of Legends'' team underwent a massive overhaul, removing the vast majority of the squad, but bringing in recently dismissed players from other professional organizations. On 1 July, it was announced that the SK Gaming's ''Heroes of Newerth'' team would be replaced by the former squad of

Evil Geniuses Evil Geniuses (EG) is an American esports organization based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1999, the organization has fielded players in various fighting games, ''Call of Duty'', '' Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'', ''Dota 2'', ''Fortni ...

. On Independence Day of 2011, SK Gaming released its European ''StarCraft II'' roster consisting of Hun "inuh" Park, Jimmy "jimpo" Wölfinger and Johannes Sabroe "Joe" Witt, citing unsatisfactory performances. The squad was remade, however, on 15 July, with the partnership with the South Korean pro-gamer house Old Generations, for SK Gaming to sponsor Min Chul "MC" Jang and Yoon-Yeol "NaDa" Lee for international events. Due to long-term prospective differences, the ''Heroes of Newerth'' once again parted ways with the organization, during SK's attendance at

Gamescom Gamescom (stylized as gamescom) is a trade fair for video games held annually at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Since 2018, it has been organised by ''game – Verband der deutschen Games-Branche'' (English: Associa ...

. SK Gaming would invest in a different sector of the action RTS scene, however, with the acquisition of an all-Danish ''

Dota 2 ''Dota 2'' is a 2013 multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game by Valve. The game is a sequel to ''Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA''), a community-created mod for Blizzard Entertainment's '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos.'' ''Dota 2' ...

'' squad previously known as Next Evolution ESC, in November 2011, but dismissed the team for the unpredictability of the relatively young scene for the game. In early 2012, the partnership between SK Gaming and Old Generations ended, with Min Chul "MC" Jang joining the organization, while Yoon-Yeol "NaDa" Lee remained with oGs. In a surprising move, SK Gaming announced that the ''Counter-Strike'' team would be removing the player with the shortest tenure, Marcus "Delpan" Larsson, in favor of their first permanent Danish member and former mTw ace, Martin Alexander "trace" Bang Heldt at the end of January. On 13 April, however, Larsson once more returned to the team, replacing Heldt. On 27 July 2012, it was announced that SK Gaming's ''Counter-Strike'' division would lose Robert "RobbaN" Dahlström, Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg and Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund, as well as team captain Anton Budak, due to SK's decision to not send the team to GameGune 2012. On 30 July, SK Gaming announced the final closing of the ''Counter-Strike'' division. On 15 January 2013, it was determined that

SteelSeries SteelSeries (styled as steelseries) is a Danish manufacturer of gaming peripherals and accessories, including headsets, keyboards, mice, controllers, and mousepads. SteelSeries was acquired by GN Store Nord in 2021. History SteelSeries was foun ...

has ended their ten-year sponsorship of SK Gaming, in addition to

. In an annual wrap-up, SK's CEO Alexander T. Müller-Rodic announced the departures of ''League of Legends'' players Carlos "ocelote" Rodríguez Santiago, Patrick "Nyph" Funke, as well as the sole ''StarCraft II'' player Min Chul "MC" Jang and sports player Bruce "Spank" Grannec. In January 2017 it was announced that

Visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...

would be a sponsor of SK Gaming.

Business model

SK Gaming is incorporated as a German limited liability company ( GmbH). Its owners are Alexander Müller-Rodic, Andreas Thorstensson and Ralf Reichert. SK Gaming operates largely due to its sponsorships, most-notably by

Kingston Technology Kingston Technology Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation that develops, manufactures, sells and supports flash memory products, other computer-related memory products, as well as the HyperX gaming division ...

and Bigben. The company also finances itself by the "SK Insider" subscription service. However, according to Rodic, the vast majority of the company's funds originates from sponsorships.Spieler-Firma gründen: Das Unternehmen Clan
tomshardware.com

''League of Legends''

Riot Games Riot Games, Inc. is an American video game developer, publisher and esports tournament organizer based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in September 2006 by Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill to develop ''League of Legends'' and went on t ...

announced on 20 November 2018 that SK Gaming would be one of ten franchise partners participating in the newly rebranded

League of Legends European Championship The ''League of Legends'' EMEA Championship (LEC) is the professional ''League of Legends'' esports league run by Riot Games in the EMEA ( Europe, the Middle East and Africa) region, in which ten teams compete. Each annual season of play is divi ...

(LEC). On 20 December 2018, the organisation announced it had signed top laner Jorge "Werlyb" Casanovas Moreno-Torres, jungler Oskar "Selfmade" Boderek, mid laner Choi "Pirean" Jun-sik, bot laner Jus "Crownshot" Marusic and support Han "Dreams" Min-kook for their starting roster in the 2019 LEC Spring Split.

Active rosters

''FIFA''

''Hearthstone''

''League of Legends ''

Notable alumni

* Tim "Burke" Reichert (''Quake'') * Benjamin "Kane" Reichert (''Quake'') * Musa "kila" Celik (''Quake'') * Emil "HeatoN" Christensen (''Counter-Strike'') *

(''Counter-Strike'') * Fredrik "MaDFroG" Johansson (''Warcraft III'', ''StarCraft II'') * Lee "NaDa" Yoon-yeol (''StarCraft II'') * Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg (''Counter-Strike'') * Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund (''Counter-Strike'') *

Jang "MC" Min-chul Jang Min-chul (, born June 17, 1991), better known as MC, is a former Korean professional ''StarCraft II'' player, playing as the Protoss faction. MC has accumulated more than $500,000 in tournament winnings, and won the Global StarCraft II Leag ...

(''StarCraft II'') * Dennis "Svenskeren" Johnsen (''League of Legends'') * Mikail "Maikelele" Bill (''Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'') *

Shane "rapha" Hendrixson Shane Hendrixson, also known by his pseudonym rapha, is an American professional esports ''Quake Live'', ''Quake III Arena'', '' ShootMania'', ''Overwatch, and Quake Champions'' player for Team Liquid. Since he appeared in 2008, he has won sixt ...

(''Quake'') * Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo de Alcântara Sguario (''Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'')

Selected achievements

''Counter-Strike: Global Offensive''

''Bold denotes a CS:GO Major''

2016

* 1st

* 3rd-4th ESL One New York 2016 * 2nd

ESL Pro League Season 4 ESL Pro League Season 4 (shortened as EPL Season 4) was a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament run by ESL. It was the fourth season of the ESL Pro League, and had an overall prize pool of $750,000 . For the first time, the Finals took pl ...

, 2016 * 2nd Intel Extreme Masters Season XI Oakland * 3rd-4th

ELEAGUE Season 2 ''ELEAGUE Season 2'' was the second season of the ELEAGUE '' Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'' league that ran from October 21, 2016, to December 3, 2016, and was broadcast on cable television on TBS. The season featured 120 teams overall and 1 ...

* 3rd-4th Esports Championship Series Season 2

2017

* 3rd-4th ELEAGUE Major 2017 * 2nd

DreamHack DreamHack is an ESL Gaming brand specializing in esports tournaments and other gaming conventions. It is recognized by the Guinness Book of Records and Twin Galaxies as being the world's largest LAN party and computer festival with the world's fa ...

Masters Las Vegas 2017 * 1st cs_summit * 1st Intel Extreme Masters Season XII - Sydney * 1st

Open Summer 2017 * 1st Esports Championship Series Season 3 * 5th-8th

PGL Major Kraków 2017 PGL may refer to: *Paraganglioma, a type of rare neuroendocrine neoplasm * The succinate dehydrogenase SDHD (previously known as PGL1) and SDHC (previously PGL3) *Persistent generalized lymphadenopathy * PGL (company), UK *Polish Aviation Group ...

* 3rd-4th

ESL English as a second or foreign language is the use of English by speakers with different native languages. Language education for people learning English may be known as English as a second language (ESL), English as a foreign language (EFL ...

One New York 2017 * 1st EPICENTER 2017 * 3rd-4th Intel Extreme Masters Season XII – Oakland * 1st BLAST Pro Series: Copenhagen 2017 * 1st ESL Pro League Season 6

2018

* 3rd-4th ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018 * 1st WESG North America Regional Finals * 3rd cs_summit 2 * 5th-8th StarLadder & i-League StarSeries Season 4 * 5th-6th ESL Pro League Season 7 - Finals * 1st Adrenaline Cyber League 2018 * 5th-8th StarSeries i-League Season 5 * 1st Moche XL eSports CS:GO Cup

''Counter-Strike''

* CPL :''1st CPL Winter 2005''

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

:''1st CPL Summer 2005''

:''2nd CPL Summer 2004''

:''1st CPL Winter 2003''

:''1st CPL Europe 2003''

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

:''1st CPL Summer 2003''

:''1st CPL Europe 2003''

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

:''3rd CPL Winter 2002''

:''1st CPL Summer 2002''

:''3rd CPL Europe 2002''

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

* ESL :''1st ESL Extreme Masters IV 09/10: Global Challenge New York ''

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

:''3rd ESL Extreme Masters IV 09/10: Global Finals ''

:''3rd ESL Extreme Masters IV 09/10: Global Challenge Dubai ''

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

:''1st ESL Extreme Masters IV 09/10: Global Challenge Chengdu''

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...

:''2nd ESL Extreme Masters III 08/09: Global Challenge Montreal''

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

:''1st ESL Extreme Masters III 08/09: Global Challenge Los Angeles''

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

:''2nd ESL Extreme Masters II 07/08: Global Challenge Los Angeles''

* ESWC :''1st ESWC 2011''

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

:''2nd ESWC Masters Cheonan 2009''

Cheonan Cheonan (; 천안시, ''Cheonan-si''), also spelled Ch'ŏnan, is a city in South Chungcheong, South Korea. Cheonan has a population of 666,417 (2018), making it the most-populous city or county in South Chungcheong, and the third most-populous ci ...

:''2nd ESWC 2005''

:''3rd ESWC 2003''

Poitiers Poitiers (, , , ; Poitevin: ''Poetàe'') is a city on the River Clain in west-central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and the historical centre of Poitou. In 2017 it had a population of 88,291. Its agglomerat ...

* KODE5 :''2nd KODE5 08/09''

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

:''3rd KODE5 07/08''

* WCG :''2nd WCG 2011''

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

:''2nd WCG 2008''

:''1st WCG Euro Championship 2007''

Hannover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German States of Germany, state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germa ...

:''1st WCG 2003''

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

Zonerank rankings

* Top Ranking: 2nd (March 2008) * Current Ranking: 2nd

''Quake'', ''Painkiller'' & ''Unreal Tournament''

* 1st KODE5 Finals 2006 –

(''Quake 4'') * 1st

QuakeCon QuakeCon is a yearly convention held by ZeniMax Media to celebrate and promote the major franchises of id Software and other studios owned by ZeniMax. It includes a large, paid, bring-your-own-computer ( BYOC) LAN party event with a competitiv ...

2006 –

(''Quake 4'') * 1st

World Series of Video Games World Series of Video Games (WSVG) was an international professional electronic sports competition. It held its first season in 2006, with competitions in six different games and six events held around the world including the finals of the event. T ...

Intel Summer Championship 2006 –

(''Quake 4'') * 2nd

Sweden 2006 –

(''Quake 4'') * 1st

London 2006 –

(''Quake 4'') * 1st DigitalLife 2006 –

(''Quake 4'') * 1st

2006"WCG 2006 Invitational Quake4 All Stars – Final Results" �
WCG
–

(''Quake 4'') * 1st

Finals 2006 –

(''Quake 4'') * 2nd 2005 CPL World Tour: Istanbul – Benjamin "zyz" Bohrmann (''Painkiller'') * 1st 2005 CPL World Tour: Spain – Stephan "SteLam" Lammert (''Painkiller'') * 3rd 2005 CPL World Tour: Brazil – Benjamin "zyz" Bohrmann (''Painkiller'') * 3rd

2005 – Fox (''Quake 3'') * 3rd 2005 CPL World Tour: United Kingdom – Benjamin "zyz" Bohrmann (''Painkiller'') * 2nd CPL 2005 Winter –

(''Quake 4'') * 3rd

Cyberathlete Professional League The Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL) was a professional sports tournament organization specializing in computer and console video game competitions. It was founded by Angel Munoz on June 27, 1997, in Dallas, Texas. The CPL is considered the ...

: Summer 2004 – Stephan "SteLam" Lammert (''Painkiller'') * 1st

: Summer 2004 – Team (''Unreal Tournament 2004'') * 2nd

2004 – Christian "GitzZz" Hoeck (''Unreal Tournament 2004'') * 1st

2003 – Christian "GitzZz" Hoeck (''Unreal Tournament 2003'') * 3rd

2001 – Stephan "SteLam" Lammert (''Quake 3'') ''World Championships'' * KODE5 (2006, ''Quake 4'') *

(2006, ''Quake 4'') *

(2003, ''Unreal Tournament'')

''Warcraft III''

* 1st WCG SEC 2007 – Mykhaylo "HoT" Novopashyn * 2nd World Series of Videogames, Finals 2006 – Jung Hee "jamem" Chun * 3rd

2006 – Mykhaylo "HoT" Novopashyn * 1st KODE5 2006- Andrey "Deadman" Sobolev * 1st World Series of Videogames, China 2006 – Jung Hee "Sweet" Chun * 1st World Series of Videogames, Sweden 2006 – Andrey "Deadman" Sobolev * 2nd NGL One Season I 2006 – Team * 3rd Warcraft 3 Champions League V 2006 – Team * 1st ClanBase EuroCup 2005 – Mykhaylo "HoT" Novopashyn * 3rd CPL Summer 2005 – Björn "ElakeDuck" ödman * 2nd

2005 – Andrey "Deadman" Sobolev * 3rd ACON5 2005 – Andrey "Deadman" Sobolev * 3rd Warcraft 3 Champions League VII 2005 – Team * 2nd World E-Sport Games I 2005 – Tae min "Zacard" Hwang * 3rd Warcraft 3 Champions League VI 2004 – Team * 2nd

2004 – Tae min "Zacard" Hwang * 2nd

2004 – Fredrik "MaDFroG" Johansson * 3rd

2004 – Alborz "HeMaN" Haidarian * 3rd ACON4 2004 – Jung Hee "Sweet" Chun * 3rd Warcraft 3 Champions League V 2004 – Team * 1st Blizzard Worldwide Invitational 2004 – Fredrik "MaDFroG" Johansson * 3rd Cyber X Gaming 2004 – Zdravko "Insomnia" Georgiev * 1st

2003 – Zdravko "Insomnia" Georgiev * 1st Euro Cyber Games 2003 – Antoine "FaTC" Zadri * 2nd Euro Cyber Games 2003 – Georgi "Zeerax" Marinov * 1st

2003 – Alborz "HeMaN" Haidarian * 2nd

2003 – Fredrik "MaDFroG" Johansson * 3rd Clikarena 2003 – Zdravko "Insomnia" Georgiev * 2nd CPL Cannes 2003 – Zdravko "Insomnia" Georgiev * 2nd CPL Oslo 2002 – Sven "Kovax" Running * 3rd CPL Oslo 2002 – Fahad "DsCo" Hamid ''World Championships'' * KODE5 (2006) * Blizzard Worldwide Invitational (2004) *

(2003) *

(2003)

''World of Warcraft''

* World 1st kill of Felmyst * World 1st kill of M'uru * World 1st kill of Kil'jaeden – (final boss of ''

The Burning Crusade ''World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade'' is the first expansion set for the MMORPG ''World of Warcraft''. It was released on January 16, 2007 at local midnight in Europe and North America, selling nearly 2.4 million copies on release day alon ...

''). * SK.US 1st Place at MLG Columbus * SK.US 1st Place at the Blizzard Regional Finals * SK.US 4th PlaceBlizzCon 3vs3 World Finals 2009 * SK.US 1st PlaceBlizzCon 3vs3 World Finals 2015

References

Notes

Citations

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sk Gaming 1997 establishments in Germany Blog hosting services Companies based in Cologne Esports teams based in Germany Organizations established in 1997 Internet properties established in 1997 Esports teams established in 1997 League of Legends European Championship teams Counter-Strike teams Defunct and inactive Smite (video game) teams Defunct and inactive Heroes of Newerth teams World of Warcraft teams Defunct and inactive Overwatch teams Hearthstone teams Vainglory (video game) teams Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege teams