Why Esports Will Keep Leveling Down In 2024

At the world championships of Valorant in August, a sellout crowd of 11,500 packed into The Forum in Los Angeles—and more than one million esports fans tuned in live—to see Evil Geniuses complete their improbable run to become the first North American team to win the title, and the $1 million prize that comes with it.

But competitive success in esports has done little to ensure economic stability in 2023. Evil Geniuses CEO Nicole LaPointe Jameson stepped down less than a week after the team won the title, and in the following weeks the Valorant roster was asked to take pay cuts, reportedly as high as 50%. The organization has since sold its spot in Riot Games’ League of Legends Championship Series and reportedly plans to sell or merge Evil Geniuses’ remaining esports assets by the end of the year and exit the space entirely. As Jameson told Digiday on her way out, “I think the world knows just functioning and monetizing as an esports team today doesn’t work.”

Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattcraig/2023/12/28/why-esports-must-keep-leveling-down-in-2024/?sh=635cb8cf2bff

Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1

Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:

https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript

Stay Connected
Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com

Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.