Nerd Street Gamers is analyzing its options as the company finds itself in a “serious” financial situation, according to a report by James Fudge of The Esports Advocate.
TEA reported that Nerd Street Gamers is considering either a sale of the company or finding new investors and that it has already reached out to other operators such as Belong Gaming Arenas, eFuse, PlayFly Esports/PlayFly Sports, LeagueSpot, and venture capital firms about a possible acquisition or investment.
In January, Dot Esports reported that several professional VALORANT players and talent members in North America are owed thousands as Nerd Street Gamers failed to pay prize pools the players won and pay talent for their work during events.
“Who’s going to save NSG to pay out the missed and delayed payments for talent and teams when they were hosting VCTs and Game Changers,” one source told Dot Esports in December.
Related: VALORANT pros and talent report late payments from one of the top tournament organizers
Nerd Street Gamers also cut 25 percent of its staff after a round of layoffs in January 2023, according to a previous report by TEA. If the reports are proven true, it would not seem likely that the tournament organizer will be able to pay the money it owes to players and talent from VALORANT events in 2022 when it still held Riot-sanctioned tournaments and had prestige in the scene.
Tier-two tournaments, like the open qualifiers for North America VALORANT Challengers Split One and the main tournament itself, are being run by esports organization Knights, which no longer has a team in Riot Games’ FPS and has shifted focus to organizing tournaments in VALORANT for now.
Dot Esports has reached out to Nerd Street Gamers for comment.
Published: Feb 2, 2023 12:27 pm