Esports fantasy leader Vulcun lays off a quarter of its staff

One of the leading esports fantasy sites has continued to radically overhaul its operations—this time by cutting a quarter of its staff.

Fourteen of Vulcun’s 55 staff have been laid off according to a report by The Verge. The move comes just seven days after Vulcun announced an end to its paid fantasy contests.

Just a few months ago, it looked like esports was set to benefit from a huge influx of cash from the daily fantasy market, a growing multi-million dollar industry. DraftKings and Fanduel, the two market leaders, entered esports by sponsoring a raft of teams and acquiring one of the biggest dedicated esports fantasy sites, AlphaDraft. Though not directly involved in any of these ventures, Vulcun boasted that it had given out $10 million in prizes last year and in April received $12 million in funding.

Just weeks later, however, the FBI began investigating whether fantasy sites were violating federal gambling laws, and states began legislating to ban them. Put in legal limbo, Vulcun decided to cease paid fantasy contests last week, claiming that only 10 percent of user activity was paid anyway.

Now as the company looks to pursue new but unspecified ventures, there has been no word on what department or roles these job losses come from.

“The company is transitioning to a new direction,” Vulcun co-founder Ali Moiz told The Verge with regard to the layoffs. “And unfortunately this is a painful but necessary part of the process.”

Despite the problems in the fantasy market, Vulcun could well have expansion plans. According to The Verge, the company is rumored to be making some business moves into streaming and broadcasting.