Luminosity Gaming was officially sold on Aug. 30 to Vertiqal Studios, a publicly traded Canadian media company. But in the weeks since the transaction closed, players, contractors, and content creators affiliated with the organization say they have been left in limbo—uncertain about their contractual status and waiting on payments owed.
Multiple sources who spoke to The Esports Advocate on background, as well as public statements from players, indicate that Luminosity owes tens of thousands of dollars across outstanding obligations.
How the Sale Came About
On Sept. 2, The Esports Advocate reported that Enthusiast Gaming (NASDAQ: EGLX), which had owned Luminosity since 2019, sold the brand and its direct-sales division to Vertiqal Studios (OTC: VERTF). The deal, first announced on Aug. 19, included Omnia Media, GameCo Esports Canada (operator of Luminosity Gaming), and other related assets.
Under the agreement, Vertiqal paid C$900,000 CAD (approximately $653,000 USD) in cash—already received by Enthusiast as a non-refundable deposit—and assumed roughly $2.6 million in existing and ongoing liabilities.
The terms confirm that Luminosity carried significant debt at the time of sale. What remains unclear nearly a month later is why communication about outstanding payments has broken down and why players and contractors say they are struggling to receive money owed.
Public Complaints
Some of these frustrations have surfaced on social media:
- On Sept. 12, graphic artist Retr0Artist alleged in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that Luminosity was three months behind on payments for work performed:
- On Sept. 16, FGC commentator EEvisu joked about Luminosity’s situation in a YouTube video, though without providing specifics about his own status.
- On Sept. 18, Smash pro MkLeo said in a post on X that he had not been paid for two months and was seeking donations to attend Japan’s Kagaribi#14 in November.
- That same day, fellow Smash pro Sonix, who remains under the Luminosity banner, discussed the uncertainty of his contract in a Twitch stream.
These public accounts align with what several sources told TEA, that communication from Vertiqal since the takeover has been sporadic at best.
Vertiqal’s Position
When contacted by The Esports Advocate, a representative for Vertiqal Studios acknowledged that the company underestimated the scale of issues it inherited:
“The truth of the matter is, we took on a distressed company, which had management issues, and only now are we finding out the full extent of those issues,” the representative said. “While we knew there were some missed payments, we did not realize the extent of missed payments until we started talking to the creators, vendors, and employees recently.”
The spokesperson added that many players have already been paid, while “remaining Luminosity creators [are] having their payments being processed.” The process, they noted, has been slowed because Vertiqal has yet to gain access to Luminosity’s existing bank accounts:
“This [has] forced us to reach out individually to creators and ask for new banking info. We will make them all whole soon.”
Enthusiast’s Response
Asked about Vertiqal’s claims of past mismanagement, a spokesperson for Enthusiast Gaming declined to engage directly:
“Unfortunately, we are not able to provide specific commentary on this matter given the ongoing obligations of confidentiality with respect to the transaction,” the company told TEA. “That said, the statements provided in your email do not reflect the nature of the transaction or our experience during the sale process, the details of which have been publicly disclosed.”
Enthusiast emphasized that it is no longer involved with Luminosity following the Aug. 30 sale.
Former Enthusiast Gaming Chief Marketing Officer and Luminosity head Alex Gonzalez, who left the company earlier this month, offered a different perspective in a statement to TEA:
“This is surprising to see as the new ownership and management has been very public about the strength of the current roster and overall Luminosity brand. In fact, they have spoken about Luminosity as a powerhouse brand, with a premier presence on Twitch. This doesn’t sound like an organization that has been mismanaged, quite the opposite in fact.”
Gonzalez highlighted Luminosity’s achievements under his three-and-a-half-year tenure, including winning the team’s first world championship in Pokémon Unite, back-to-back NACL titles in League of Legends, and signing high-profile talents such as MkLeo, Tweek, SonicFox, and SweetDreams.
“Personally, I am extremely proud of all the achievements that our team was able to accomplish, “ Gonzalez said.”Outside of our esports success, we were able to significantly expand our content creator roster, giving opportunities to dozens of content creators to work alongside us in campaigns with household name brands like Amazon, State Farm, Lego, and more. This also included activations alongside professional sports as we gave creators opportunities to participate on our NFL Tuesday Night Gaming program and as we launched a one-year naming rights opportunity with Chivas for our Apex Legends roster.”
He concluded: “Given the strong foundation my team and I were able to build throughout the last few years, I feel that Luminosity is well positioned to continue to thrive.”
On Sept. 15, Gonzalez and several former Enthusiast colleagues announced the launch of a new venture called XDOTG.