It’s not every day you see Quinn “Quinn” Callahan wearing a magician’s tailcoat, but that’s the kind of show TI13 is going to be. This year, Dota 2’s most prestigious tournament has gone full circus, which is a far cry from last year’s painted glass motif.
TI13’s Circus Theme Takes Center Stage
When the first TI13 trailer was released, there was not much information about the theme of the event. However, with the tournament now in full swing, it is evident that the circus lights were not only used for the aesthetic appeal, but they were a signal of the circus-like experience that teams are now creating. This direction probably has been taken due to the recent release of The Ringmaster, which has provided the community with a fresh and fun atmosphere to engage in.
For the teams, this theme has been the best chance to unleash their creativity on social media. For instance, Gaimin Gladiators published a video called “Gaimin Gladiators Dota Circus” where the team’s players acted like clowns and performed circus-like stunts. The video was humorous, full of jokes and concluded with a cryptic message about the appearance of a ‘clown’ on September 4, the first day of TI13.
Team Liquid went for a completely different approach with their video called “Welcome to the Show.” It is a reference to the Dota 2 Shopkeeper story from the early days of the game, with such phrases as “What does a hero really need?” The circus-like atmosphere fits TI13 to a T.
New Accusations Emerge Against Epulze As Payment Disputes Unfold
Even though the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) has come to a close, the monetary repercussions of that particular period in professional Dota 2 are still yet to be felt. Many players, employees, and contractors are unpaid for several events that occurred in the year 2023.
New allegations against the Swedish esports production company Epulze came out on August 29 when host and streamer Sophia “Sophy” Mapua said that she has not been paid for her work during the 2023 Southeast Asia DPC. This revelation led to the other casters and talent such as Maurice “KheZu” Gutmann and Gustavo “D2Bowie” Mattos to reveal that they have also been victims of non-payment by Epulze.
At least 17 people have come out in the open to complain of being unpaid by Epulze in the past eight months, with seven more joining the list after Sophy’s revelation. Esports.net has also discovered at least six more contractors, talent, and freelancers who have not been paid yet, and who wish to remain anonymous; some of them have not been paid since the Lima Major and DreamLeague Season 19 in April 2023.
Payment Woes at Epulze
From January to July 2023, Epulze hosted eight official DPC events: all three tours of the DPC SEA, the Lima Major, and the Bali Major. The last two were co-hosted with 4D Esports and IO Esports respectively. Furthermore, Epulze was subcontracted by the ESL FACEIT Group to offer remote commentary and other services for DreamLeague Season 19.
However, it was said that payment for the first tour of the DPC SEA was received, problems started from the Lima Major. All the subsequent events such as DPC tours, Bali Major, and DreamLeague Season 19 were impacted by payment issues, and some of them are unpaid.
Epulze representatives have stated that the company has received over $500,000 from sponsors and partners, but has not been able to pay its bills because of the resulting cash crunch. This is in line with a statement from the CEO Markus Lövgren who said that due to some budget overruns that were experienced at the Lima Major the company was financially stretched.
‘In addition to the initial mutually agreed budget of $XXX,XXX we spent several hundred thousand USD on the Lima Major with the expectation of quick payback,’ Lövgren said, ‘But due to the miscalculations of our local partner the budget was inflated several times and we never got any return on this project.’
He also added that the company faced financial problems during the DPC because they could not generate revenue from the format and depleted the financial cushion they set aside for the operation costs.
Accusations of Payment Prioritization
There have also been allegations that Epulze delayed payments to talent and then paid the “bigger” talents to silence them on the matter. Some talent were forced to pay for their own transport with some being told that they would be reimbursed but never were. Consequently, several people lost a lot of money.
Epulze has also been said to have asked some talent to sign for partial payments, but in most of the cases, no payments have been made. The contracts that were signed with Epulze were normally on a net 30 basis of payment where the payment was expected to be made 30 days after the invoice had been submitted. However, there are some payments that are now more than 400 days past due.
Frustration Boils Over
Nevertheless, many of those who were interviewed by Esports.net commended the work culture at Epulze, the character of the leadership of the company and the overall experience they had working with them. But the constant postponements and the financial pressure have taken their toll on many, which caused a series of public declarations from those affected.
The problems were first brought to light in May 2023 when the Lima Major and DPC SEA Tour 2 payment was missed. By June, Epulze informed its staff and contractors that the delayed sponsor payments were putting pressure on the company’s finances and that they were looking for more funds to address the issue. Promises that payments for the Bali Major would be faster were given but the problem was still rife. In July, talent and staff were informed that all the unpaid balances from the earlier part of the year would be paid by August, but this never happened.
Additional issues emerged in August when Epulze claimed that it had not received the funds from sponsors and was seeking other sources of funding, including a large loan and more investment. However, according to the sources, the summer break that is observed in Sweden and lasts from June to August was an issue. There were reports that the investment round had moved forward as September began, but sponsor payments were still not forthcoming. By October, Epulze stated that it had closed its investment round and planned to start delayed payments in November with the rest to be made by the year-end or early 2024.
In a rather disappointing turn of events, it was announced in December that several DPC teams were also shortchanged on the three SEA DPC Tours totaling $840,000. Communication with Epulze was less frequent by the beginning of 2024, which led to another round of public comments from the victims in January and, more recently, in August. Epulze claims that it has been in constant communication with all the stakeholders.
A Struggling Organization
In June 2024, Epulze laid off its employees, which was only three years after the company received a massive funding of around SEK 57 million, which is approximately $5.5 million USD. Nevertheless, insiders reveal that the promised payments from investors were never made, which put Epulze in a rather vulnerable situation as it failed to meet its financial commitments for the 2023 DPC season.
The company admitted that it had started a new funding round in late 2023, partly to offset the losses during the season’s activities. However, due to the tough financial environment, it has been hard for Epulze to achieve its funding targets. Adding to this, the laws of Sweden and Malaysia where the company is located do not allow dissolution of the company until all the salaries owed to the employees have been paid. This means that Epulze must pay out months of unpaid salaries before even paying for outstanding bills to talents and contractors, which some consider as an effort to pay its dues to employees.
A Troubling Pattern
However, it is sad that Epulze is not the only team that faced such problems in the Dota 2 environment. The issues of payment have been a long-standing problem for the community, with such notorious cases as GESC in 2018 and the Gamer’s Galaxy Dubai Invitational in 2023. Epulze is one of the many cases described on the Dota 2 Debts Tracker, which was created by Ben “Noxville” Steenhuisen.
In his closing statement to Esports.net, Epulze CEO Markus Lövgren accepted responsibility for the ongoing payment issues:
“While some of the conditions were unavoidable, we accept full responsibility for the situation and strive to fulfill our commitments to all the parties involved. We have been gradually improving the process of addressing the outstanding payments during the past year. We are in touch with all the parties and will keep on working on the issue.”
While the esports community keeps a close eye on the developments, the idea is that Epulze can overcome its financial issues and meet the obligations to those who contributed to the staging of their events.
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