Pros Feel Betrayed After Halo World Championship Removes Crowdfunding From Prize Pool

We are less than a week away from Halo Infinite’s first world championship and out of nowhere, the organizers have decided that there will be no crowdfunding for the event. 343 Industries had promised that the Halo World Championship (HWC) would have crowdfunding to boost its $1 Million USD prize pool. However, 343 Industries has completely changed the prize pool structure by removing any form of crowdfunding. Pro players are unhappy about the move and have voiced their opinions on the matter but are yet to receive an official response.

Pro players feel “lied to” after the sudden decision to remove crowdfunding

Multiple pro players from OpTic, FaZe, Sentinels and WaR have called out the organizers’ decision to remove crowdfunding. FaZe Clan’s Eric “Snip3down” Wrona said on Twitter that he would not have left Apex Legends if he knew about this change. Snip3down has won multiple world championships in Halo but he retired after and moved on to Apex. After Halo Infinite was announced, he jumped back to Halo but now he regrets his decision.

Sentinels’ Tony "LethuL" Campbell Jr wants Halo to revert the decision before worlds.OpTic Gaming’s Matthew "FormaL" Piper also stated that he is disappointed and a number of other pro players chimed in. Formal’s teammate Tommy "Lucid" Wilson said, “Blessed to still have a championship to play for, but it is baffling to walk back the sentiment of crowdfunding a week before.”

Halo’s official statement revealed that it is going to continue this new philosophy in an effort to “bolster the roadmap and add new events altogether, rather than boosting what are already very large prize pools.” 343 Industries believes that it will drive a larger impact across the entire ecosystem, rather than “putting so many eggs in one basket.”

Halo Esports and Viewership Lead at Microsoft/343 Industries Tahir “Tashi” Hasandjekic defended the move saying that the Worlds prize pool will remain the same and funds will continue to be invested in bolstering the scene to add more tournaments.

However, all pro players were expecting a boost in prize pool through crowdfunding which would boost the $1 Million USD prize pool that the tournament organizers had put into the event. This is something that has been a tradition for past Halo World Championships and has become a staple in many of the world’s most premier esports competitions including the Valorant Champions and The International Dota 2 tournaments.

The prize pool change would not have been an issue if they were informed about this major change well in advance but Halo’s decision to notify players just a week before the world championship has upset everyone. Pro players who finish at the top spots will end up earning less money from the world championship than they had previously expected.