Late payments are nothing new in the world of esports, but several North American Valorant players have gone to social media to express that they are waiting on payments from Nerd Street Gamers ranging into the thousands of dollars.
Late payment issues, a staple problem of esports, have reared their ugly head in Valorant, as players and talent allege that Nerd Street Gamers owes them thousands in tournament winnings and payments. The news broke on Jan. 2, as first in a series of tweets was released by Timothy "frostyZK" Ly.
Subsequently dozens of pros and talent have tweeted out similar experiences. Others spoke confidentially to Dot Esports as part of a report published yesterday. Dot Esports claims that details of the late payment have been known since at least December.
What’s the issue?
On Jan. 2, Timothy "frostyZK" Ly, an American Valorant player for TSM FTX, posted the following on social media asking others if they had received payment yet for participating.
Several players replied saying they had been paid for their work, while others said they hadn’t. It is unclear how many people are owed money, as it appears to be a limited number who are awaiting payment. Ly’s Tweet is in regard to the Nerd Street Summer Championship Finals for 2022 which took place August 2022. TSM FTX finished second at this tournament and have alleged they are still waiting on payment.
Members of other teams, including former Ghost Gaming core, Oxygen Esports, Shopify Rebels and Teal Seam Vapor, have also said they are awaiting payment from events they had taken part in. This includes Game Changers Championship NA, with others publicly stating how much they are owed. It was also alleged that members of staff had not been paid as well.
Nerd Street Gamer's response
Esports.gg also reached out directly to Nerd Street Gamers for comment, they replied commenting: "Despite the situation, we’re getting through the backlog of payments as swiftly as we can. As of next week all VAL Summer Champions payments will be completed for both prizes and staff. We’re hoping to have Frag’s payments all caught up with by next month and we’re working with Riot on a resolution for VCT."
"Despite the situation, we’re getting through the backlog of payments as swiftly as we can. As of next week all VAL Summer Champions payments will be completed for both prizes and staff."
In a statement on Twitter, CEO John Fazio said they are "doing their best to get everyone paid asap" and that the company was "often at the mercy of third parties like brands/publishers." Furthering this, Fazio told his followers that "anyone outstanding can contact me directly for an update on timing" stressing that this will be resolved and payments will be completed for all who are owed.
Hopefully we can expect to see this resolved for all in the coming months.
Who are Nerd Street Gamers?
Nerd Street gamers are tournament organisers and are partnered with Riot Games to host the Valorant events in North America. They were partnered with Riot last year to cover the three stages of the North American Valorant Champions tour and are well known for their strong standing as a tournament organiser. Nerd Street are also the operators of Local Host GG which operate esports and gaming companies across the United States.
