Dozens of layoffs have occurred at Vindex subsidiary and turnkey esports solutions company Esports Engine this week, according to multiple social media posts from affected employees. Some now former employees claim that the number of layoffs are somewhere in the neighborhood of 65 employees.
TEA has reached out to ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) for confirmation and furth comment, and will update this story if more information becomes available.
Many of those affected noted in social media posts that these layoffs came without any kind of warning and were immediately put into effect. It is unclear as of this writing if EFG is providing any job placement or severance to affected employees.
Tournament organizer EFG announced March 1 that it had acquired U.S.-based esports production company Vindex and its Esports Engine and Vindex Intelligence Platform subsidiaries for an undisclosed amount of cash. Shortly thereafter, Esports Engine Co-Founder and President Adam Apicella announced his exit from the company.
According to LinkedIn, Esports Engine employs anywhere between 51-200 people, though that number is likely inaccurate as employees often don’t change their work status on LinkedIn after getting laid off or moving on to other jobs.
EFG is owned by the Saudi government-backed Public Investment Fund.