The so-called “esports winter” has hit VALORANT esports pretty hard, with top-rated organizations across the world tightening their budgets. As much as reducing this year’s Champions’ salaries sounds infuriating, considering the state of esports, our favorite ‘W streamer’ Sam “s0m” Oh thinks that it makes sense.
During a Q&A session on his Twitch stream on Sept. 13, s0m was faced with a question from one of his viewers, who asked why VALORANT esports players are currently getting paid less than before. The former NRG creator and professional player didn’t hesitate to highlight the bitter consequence of over-investment.
“I mean, I don’t know what it is behind, like I don’t know actually what happened,” s0m said. “But I’m assuming all these orgs realized that like… they’re all paying too much for their players. The orgs realized that if they keep paying this amount, that they would, you know, eventually go bankrupt or have to disband.”
S0m answers the question at 13:59 in the video below.
Despite lifting the trophy at 2023’s most prestigious VALORANT tournament with a prize pool of $2,250,000, Evil Geniuses recently presented their Champions-winning roster with a clause, allowing them to explore their options in the circuit or accept a substantial pay cut ahead of the VCT 2024 season.
As expected, the announcement stirred the community, with fans demanding a legitimate explanation for such a strange decision. If the year’s best-performing roster has to face pay cuts to stay together, it’s only justified for the community and aspiring esports stars to question the future of VALORANT esports.
On the other hand, if the organizations don’t buckle up and keep spending beyond their limits, that doesn’t sound like a good plan either. “I think all the orgs just like mutually agreed that we should lower salaries, and it makes sense,” s0m said, agreeing to the decision.
Earlier this year, a popular report suggested that multiple North American esports organizations participating in the VCT American league will reduce player salaries and spending for the upcoming season next year.
Well, if the organizations require such moves to stay afloat, I don’t think there’s any other way out—unless Riot intervenes.
Published: Sep 14, 2023 03:49 am