According to FPX Esports AD carry Lin “Lwx” Wei-Xiang, FunPlus Phoenix has dissolved its roster. In a stream following FPX's elimination from the 2021 League of Legends World Championship, Lwx states in messages to a friend that the long-time Chinese organization and winners of the 2019 iteration of Worlds have disbanded the current team, and that he has “ran away” from the organization.

In a chat log within the League of Legends client, Lwx is seen having this conversation with a friend, which was posted to the League of Legends subreddit with a full translation, which has been copied below:

““Who is it then?"

"FPX

has disbanded."

"Just rebuild, you are the core member."

"I ran away."
" You won't be able to run. You forced the Taiwanese away."

"?"

"?"”

Still, no information has been officially released from FPX. It is also unknown if FPX will be leaving the League of Legends scene, or will start next year with a fully rebuilt team following its shocking early exit from Worlds 2021.

Domestically, FPX placed first in the LPL 2021 Summer Split in first place, then placed second in that split’s playoffs. Coming into the event, the LPL team was seen as one of the favorites to lift the Summoner’s Cup. According to an interview with esports website PentaQ, FPX’s mid laner Kim "Doinb" Tae-sang claimed that his team “won’t lose one single game” following its first loss of the group stage to DWG KIA. 

There is  a chance Lwx was merely joking in a conversation with his friend, but FPX's performance was arguably the most disappointing of any team in Worlds history. The team went on to lose four of their remaining four games after its 2-1 start and fell out of the tournament in the group stage. Lwx has been a veteran of the LPL for FPX; his four year history is one of the longest-tenured players in the organization’s history. No information or statements have been released by FPX at this time.

Disclaimer: The initial version of this article stated that FunPlus Phoenix started off Worlds 2021 2-0, when in actuality, it was 1-1 after the team lost its first match to DWG KIA. The text in the article above has been corrected to reflect this accuracy.