All Parabellum Esports staff laid off, future unclear for Rainbow Six division

In a shocking April 28 statement, Parabellum Esports announced all staff members at the Canadian esports organization had been laid off, with the future of its Rainbow Six Siege North American League team currently in doubt.

Founded in 2020, Parabellum Esports was acquired by React Gaming Group in March 2022. At the time of purchase, Parabellum held esports teams in Rainbow Six Siege, Rocket League, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Counter-Strike, and iRacing. Just over a year later, Parabellum Esports’ presence had been reduced to just their Rainbow Six roster, who had just finished eighth in the North American League.

This followed several months of complaints from former players and staff members about delays in payment from React Gaming Group. The most vocal was the ex-General Manager of Parabellum’s prior Rocket League roster, Micheal “Noobsie” Palmateer, stating their players “are owed 45 days’ worth of pay for RL. React has refused to comment or offer any type of resolution on when it’s coming.”

A month after Parabellum dropped both their Rocket League and Counter-Strike rosters, the organization has, in effect, shut down. In a message sent via the Parabellum Esports Discord, the organization’s ex-CEO and co-founder, Chris Lama, said, “My position has been furloughed, and all other positions at pB have been permanently terminated.”

At the time of this announcement, Parabellum still held their sole roster in Rainbow Six Siege, putting the team’s future up in the air. Despite Parabellum’s roster featuring notable players Gabriel “LaXInG” Mirelez and Alexander “Skys” Magor, they finished the recent Stage One of the NA League in last place with just a single win across seven games.

Hope is not completely lost for the team, however, as Chris Lama stated that “It is my understanding that pB R6 will continue”. It’s unclear as to in what form this would be.

This announcement came just two days after Ubisoft released a new Parabellum Esports skin, of which 50 percent of all proceeds were to go to the organization. In the same Discord message, Lama said that “all earnings from the skin will be used to pay the players and continue the brand”.

Parabellum’s Rainbow Six Siege roster is not scheduled to play in any tournament until Stage Two of the North American League begins in September. This means fans have a possible five-month wait to see if the org can field a lineup for Stage Two. 

If not, Parabellum Esports will become the third organization to exit the NA League this year, following TSM and Astralis’ exit in February. This continues a tumultuous time for the region as it enters what was built as a new era of competitive Rainbow Six Siege.

Related: Reigning Siege world champs TSM are reportedly exiting the scene

For React Gaming Group, this situation mirrors that of September 2021’s, which saw their acquisition of Team BH Esports—an organization that claimed to be “the second most-followed esports brand based out of Canada”—fold inside a calendar year, ceasing all operations in May 2022.