it looks like Epulze, the esports organizer, is catching some serious flak as we kick off the new year. They’ve been under fire before for running subpar tournaments, and now it turns out they haven’t coughed up prize money to a bunch of players and talents who rocked the Dota 2 Pro Circuit in Southeast Asia.
According to the Dota 2 debt tracker by stats guru Ben “Noxville” Steenhuisen, Epulze just joined the club of Dota esports organizers which have not paid their participants up to date. The data stated that the Swedish esports organizer owes a whopping $840,000 in prize money, which was totalled from the Tour 1 to 3 series in Divisions 1 and 2 in 2023.
And it’s not just numbers on a spreadsheet; folks who actually took part in the competition are confirming the mess. One of them is Juan “Carlo” Manalo, a position 5 player for Blacklist Rivalry, who threw some shade at Epulze on Facebook, strongly suggesting he’s still waiting for his earnings from his time with Execration between December 2022 and July 2023.
But it’s not only players feeling the burn; talents who signed up for the SEA DPC 2023 are also crying foul. Eric Tan, a Malaysian Dota 2 observer, spilled the beans that he hasn’t seen a dime for his gig as an in-game observer during Tours 2 and 3. He also confirmed that participants from last year are still chasing Epulze for their rightful money.
As of now, Epulze is keeping mum on the whole mess. But given their sketchy rep from last year, it won’t be a shocker if more players and talents start airing their grievances on social media, demanding Epulze to pay up and clear the air soon.
