Immortals Owner Disputes Claims Made by CS:GO Players
In the midst of the ongoing dispute over league exclusivity and player rights in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Immortals owner Noah Whinston has stepped in to address some of the claims made by players in recent days.
In an open letter, endorsed by fellow Professional Esports Association (PEA) team owners, Whinston states that the PEA league was never intended to be exclusive. However, due to “over-saturation,” it is not financially viable for teams to participate in the PEA league and compete in existing online leagues simultaneously.
This contradicts the claims made by the players, through their representative Scott “SirScoots” Smith, that PEA commissioner Jason Katz threatened to force players to withdraw from the ESL Pro League (EPL) if ESL did not agree to PEA’s proposed compromise.
Both open letters agree on the compromise, which involved ESL ceasing its North American operations and PEA taking over, resulting in a jointly produced final similar to the current EPL seasonal finals.
While Whinston defends the right of teams to decide in which leagues their players participate, he states that players will collectively have the opportunity to choose between the PEA league and EPL. However, the letter also includes a threat that if players do not choose the PEA league, the PEA will redirect its resources to other game titles.
The letter solely focuses on the over-saturation issue with EPL, without mentioning other league competitions like ELEAGUE or the Esports Championship Series (ECS), or the growing number of events organized by other entities.
Despite Whinston’s attempt to strike a conciliatory tone, the conflict between players and owners has only escalated since the release of the players’ letter. TSM in-game leader Sean Gares was removed from his position by owner Andy “Reginald” Dinh, who apparently held him responsible for his teammates signing the letter and damaging the TSM brand.
Update December 23, 2016 15:40 EST
WESA has released a statement confirming the PEA proposal for the closure of the ESL Pro League NA division, and also mentioning that a counter-offer of revenue sharing was made.
Speaking seemingly as organizers of the league rather than just the sanctioning body, the statement states, “We are still interested in finding a solution that benefits teams and players alike.”