More Layoffs Hit HSEL Owner Generation Esports

Credit: Generation Esports

A day after announcing details on the 2023 High School Esports League Spring Major, news began to surface that a handful of Generation Esports employees had been laid off this week.

While we have not been able to confirm just how many people were laid off at this time, we can report that employees affected include software engineer Brendan Caudill, who was with the company for more than a year;  Kevin Guier, a former Kansas City police officer who joined the company four months ago as senior product manager from Oracle-owned IT services company Cerner Corporation (where he spent more than nine years in various roles); Sarah “Frog” Weedin, who spent two years at the company as a success agent; Holly Gray, who most recently served as the company’s human resources manager and spent more than two years in various HR-related roles; Alice Nelson who spent nearly two years as a QA analyst; and Nate Pruessner, who joined the company a year-and-a-half ago and most recently served as senior software engineer team lead..

The Fudge Retort has also learned that long-time High School Esports League and Generation Esports Co-Founder and executive Charles Reilly has not been involved in the company operationally since late July, but is still technically on the payroll. It is unclear if the exit from his leadership role was voluntary, amicable, or forced by management–he most recently served in the role of president of education and research and was with the company for more than 10 years. 

The latest spate of layoffs follows a round that occurred in September just as Generation Esports announced its partnership with Playfly Sports. Sources we spoke to at the time put the number of layoffs at around 15-20 employees.

Generation Esports is a tournament platform and organizer aimed at scholastic and collegiate esports competitions as well as events for active duty military personnel through its various operations including the High School Esports League, Middle School Esports League, and the Military Gaming League (which it acquired in May of this year for an undisclosed amount). 

The Fudge Retort has reached out to multiple members of Generation Esports’ executive team and other employees in the company, but no one has responded to our request for comments at the time of writing.