Sean ‘sgares’ Gares leaving Shopify Rebellion, is the VALORANT scene to blame?

Esports caster and coach, Sean ‘sgares’ Gares, has announced that he is parting ways with Shopify Rebellion.

In a video posted on X, sgares shared that the decision was made ‘amicably’ between both parties, leaving the organisation nearly two years after initially joining Shopify Rebellion.

On X, he said: “I don’t want to make this seem like they’re kicking me out the door. This was a decision that we both made together.

Parting ways isn’t always easy, but I think Shopify Rebellion and myself have mutual respect for one another.”

The commentator, coach and manager has had a long career in esports, with beginnings in Counter-Strike before eventually transitioning over to VALORANT.

Shortly after leaving his position as VALORANT head coach for 100 Thieves, sgares joined Shopify Rebellion as a content creator in 2023 before being appointed as general manager of tactical FPS games nearly a year later.

In the video, sgare highlighted some of the tournaments he participated in as part of Shopify Rebellion, such as the live c-stream for Game Changers North America finals in Toronto.

In a response online, Shopify Rebellion wrote: “Cheers to countless memories, we’re honoured to have shared them with you! We know you’ll keep being the all-star that you are with what is next. All the best in the next chapter.”

Some in the esports scene didn’t share his positivity, seeing sgares’ departure as yet another sign of the declining state of Riot’s VALORANT esports scene, with one of the top comments claiming it comes down to ‘mismanagement and incompetence.’

Sentiments after the state of the Riot and VALORANT scene have only worsened in light of sgares’ video statement publicly alleging match fixing in the tier two VALORANT scene in North America.

In 2025 so far, we have seen players and teams step away from Riot’s competitive scene. In the latter half of May, Zero Tenacity exited the VALORANT tier two esports scene, citing a lack of ‘positive change.’

In a statement online, Zero Tenacity wrote: “This is a part of a larger issue — currently, all Riot Games titles have a very poor esports system outside of the franchised leagues.

”We hope that in the future we will be able to come back to a hopefully healthier scene.”

During the announcement, sgares shared that he was unsure of what he would do next, but that he is optimistic for the future and still has some events he will be attending — including the BLAST.tv Austin Major. He will also continue doing streams and create content for his fanbase.

“But I’m also excited about doing the next thing,” sgares said during the announcement. “For those of you that have followed my career thus far, you know I kind of hop around a little bit to do different things.

“I am excited for the next thing, and I’m not really sure what that is going to be right now, but I do know that i am going to be co-streaming the BLAST.tv Austin Major from Thursday to Sunday.”