Esports Organization Pittsburgh Knights has laid off an undetermined amount of employees this week, according to sources who spoke to The Esports Advocate on background. While TEA could not independently confirm the exact number of affected employees, sources tell us that this week's layoffs were “considerable,” and that only essential staff members remain. Those that have stayed on with the company have been told that they will be laid off after Dec. 1, our sources say, coinciding with the conclusion...

Bleed Esports was in the spotlight on Friday, as its Counter-Strike 2 coach made a very public statement claiming that the Singapore-based esports organization is significantly behind on paying its players salaries and prize money. CS Coach Aleksandar "Kassad" Trifunovi posted a lengthy statement on Friday on social media claiming that Bleed has been behind on paying its Counter-Strike 2 players salaries and prize money, that the organization owes other organizations for player buyouts, and that complaints have been consistently...

Konami Digital Entertainment and FIFA announced Thursday that they will work together to promote football-focused esports. To that end, two FIFAe World Cup competitions featuring Konami's football simulation title eFootball will be held for mobile and console platforms starting today. Financial terms of this new partnership were not disclosed. The FIFAe World Cup will begin qualifying rounds around the world today (Oct. 10) in-game across competitions on consoles and mobile, with each platform crowning a FIFAe World Champion.  According to the...

China-based esports tournament organizer VSPO announced that it has appointed a new CEO and has engaged in an “international brand alignment,” renaming itself to “Hero Esports.” Danny Tang, co-founder and current CFO, will become the company’s new CEO, with the mission of expanding the company’s “operations and driving international growth.” Current Founder and CEO Dino Ying will transition away from the leadership role to take on the position of executive chairman, focusing on “exploring and creating the next generation of...

Publicly traded international esports organization NIP Group (NASDAQ: NIPG) announced the appointment of Randy Hearst Harris as an independent director to its board of directors, effective as of Sept. 24. “We are delighted to welcome Randy Hearst Harris to our board as an independent director,” said Mario Ho, chairman and co-CEO of NIP Group. “Randy’s extensive experience and passion for the digital sector make him an exceptional addition to NIP Group. His unique blend of expertise across sports management, technology,...

Esports tournament organizer BLAST and game publisher Rainbow Six Siege developer and publisher Ubisoft announced Tuesday that the next location for The Six Invitational 2025 will take place at MGM Music Hall in Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. The multi-use venue primarily used for music concerts has a total capacity of 5,000 attendees, depending on configuration (though we assume this means “standing room only” configurations for concerts). The Six Invitational 2025 will feature the top 20 Rainbow Six Siege teams...

Texas-based esports organization Complexity announced Monday a new partnership with Dallas-based PC peripherals company Glorious. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Under the terms of this new partnership, Complexity will support the launch of the "Glorious GMMK 3," what the company describes as the "world’s most customizable keyboard." Complexity will also help test "future esports focused products and collaborate with Glorious to release co-branded products" including mouse pads and keycaps. In addition to collaborating on future products, Complexity...

Riot Games publicly announced that Southeast Asian esports organization Bleed Esports had been removed from the Valorant Champions Tour and VCT Pacific as a parentered team. In its announcement Riot noted that the organization did not meet specific requirements/failed to fulfill guidelines set forth under the team participation agreement. As a result, Bleed has been replaced by Boom Esports. Riot’s full statement: An update for VCT 2025 pic.twitter.com/p46AGL8iDv — VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) October 4, 2024 Bleed Esports also released...

Adam Apicella announced Thursday that he is joining the ESL FACEIT Group as senior vice president of esports for North America, effective immediately. Apicella left Esports Engine (a company he led as a co-founder and president) when parent company Vindex was sold to ESL FACEIT Group in March 2023. In a social media post Apicella said that after more than 20+ years being a peer or ESL executives, he was becoming a colleague: "After 20+ years as a peer, I’m...

Esports tournament organizer BLAST announced Thursday that it has partnered with global financial trading platform DLSM. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but this marks the first time the trading company has been involved in a major esports event. Under the terms of this deal, DLSM has been named the official trading partner of the BLAST Premier World Final, taking place in Singapore at the end of this month and running into early-November. DLSM's brand will also be...