Imagine winning a huge sum of money, anxiously waiting for it to arrive, and then the letdown when it just never comes. For these Valorant players, this has been their reality for months.
Recently, various Valorant pro teams have publicly come out to say that they have not received payment for their work. This extends not just to the players, but to staff members as well.
It all started when Coach Ji Dong-jun, better known as Meow, Valorant coach for BOOM Esports, tweeted directly at Valorant Esports to enquire why the team had not been paid yet.
Apparently, other teams had already received payment last September. Fitting, because the tournament was in August. It truly showcases patience on Meow’s end that he held out for four months without speaking out.
Mineski, the organiser of the VCT Stage 3 Challengers SEA tournament, quickly responded that they were resolving administrative issues on their end and the payment would be processed by January 2023. Convenient.
Meanwhile, in North America, the same issue is being faced. Timothy Ly, known as TSM FTX’s Valorant player “frostyZK”, tweeted in early January to ask other pro players if they had received payment.
This tweet sparked a cycle of other Valorant players coming forward, airing out their disappointment in not getting paid for an extended period of time.
The common thread among these American players is that they are asking for payment from Nerd Street Gamers. When asked about it on Twitter, CEO John Fazio explained that they are “at the mercy of third parties like brands/publishers” but only Nerd Street Gamers gets held accountable.
No one should have to incite widespread public backlash just to get fair, timely payment.
