The Esports Advocate has learned that Toronto Ultra, Toronto Defiant, and MAD Lions owner OverActive Media (OAM) has made some strategic cuts to staff this week, though the scale and scope of those cuts is unknown as of this writing. At least two former employees—Connor Chambers and Cameron Bloom—have been let go.
Chambers served as the team manager form OAM’s Call of Duty League franchise Toronto Ultra for more than a year, while Bloom—who only joined the organization six months ago—was serving as the marketing manager for Madrid-based MAD Lions.
According to sources familiar with the situation, these cuts are part of a restructuring plan, with roles being eliminated and responsibilities shifted to and shared by other employees. While we do not have an exact number of affected employees, one source claims that it is in the range of 5 – 10 employees, with more cuts expected in the future.
A spokesperson for OAM did not address questions about what divisions have been affected, but did issue a brief statement to TEA on Thursday afternoon claiming that there are no ongoing major layoffs at the company:
“There are no major layoffs underway and OverActive is operating business as usual,” the spokesperson said. “The Company remains excited about our teams and work today, and in the future.”
Based in Canada, OAM operates Call of Duty League team Toronto Ultra, Overwatch League team Toronto Defiant, and League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) team MAD Lions.
On a related note, OAM announced Thursday that MAD Lions has launched a brand new roster to compete in Valorant Game Changers—the organization has signed an all-women Spanish roster that will compete under the banner of MAD Lions Laurë. The team includes Monica “moniovess” Oves Silva, Laia “MissLaia” Miralles Brull, Alessia “Alessia” Crisafo Norte, Lucia “Nahashi” Mata Vergara, Nicole “Nidxvilco” Dobrovolskyy Shved, and coach Adrián “Jedry” Garcia Saiz. MAD Lions Laurë will make its official public debut at the VCT Game Changers 2023 Open Qualifier April 5-9.