Valve has Allegedly Sued SEA Tournament Organizer for not Paying Talent and Players

^{Image Courtesy: Pierre Lecourt}

SEA tournament organizer, Global Electronic Sports Championship, aka GESC is being sued by Valve, for their failure to pay $750k in wages and prize money to players and talent, according to a report published by Dot Esports.

According to the media outlet, Valve’s VP of marketing, Doug Lombardi has stated that Valve filed this lawsuit with the High Court of the Republic of Singapore on 8th April 2019.

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Earlier in 2018, an open letter was published to Dota.gg by Cyborgmatt, accusing GESC and CEO Oskar Feng of not paying the players who participated in the events as well as the broadcast and operational talent involved. According to Bailey, GESC owed $750,000 to workers and talent at the events.

Multiple other teams, players and talents have corroborated Cyborgmatt’s claims and have posted several tweets over the last year, calling out the organizer.

GESC appears to have ceased operations following the GESC: Thailand Minor 2018.

Valve has also stated that they have discontinued their partnership with the tournament organizer. 

“Our agreements with tournament operators require timely payment to participants,” Lombardi said. “We feel this is vital to the success of these events long term. When operators fail to meet those requirements, we follow up.”