Heroic released a notice to shareholders today outlining a need to raise more money to continue operations as reported by Anders Frost of Pley.gg. This is already big news given the consistent top level performances on the CSGO team’s part, but this can also impact Siege. The operations of the organization are in jeopardy of shutting down as early as Summer 2023 without additional investment of at least $10 million NOK (around $935,000 USD). A particularly notable quote:
“…the Company will need NOK 80 million to sustain its business until the end of 2025, of which, a minimum of NOK 10 million will be needed before summer 2023”
In other words, Heroic will shut down before this summer without some amount of investment. If the organization tries to trim the fat before then, R6 and it’s Sim Racing team are first on the chopping block. The Danish Counter Strike team is competing for titles and winning the lion’s share of prize money (however much that goes to an org) while the Siege team is doing alright and the racing team barely has a Liquipedia page. Going off of results and a little logic, if Heroic wanted to keep only their most competitive roster, it’s out of Siege. Even then, it who knows if cutting down to a single team will keep the organization afloat that much longer.
Were Heroic to shutter operations, depending on how and when they leave raises important questions regarding the European League. There are currently no unsponsored teams in the league. While there are orgless teams in many of the APAC leagues and the Brazilian League, Ubisoft has historically been adamant that teams in NA and EU represent an organization. Even Outsiders, who many would claim wasn’t a ‘proper’ org was really just a temporary name for Virtus Pro while ownership changed to non-Russian after the start of the Russia-Ukraine war.
If Heroic were to leave mid-season, would the team be kicked out of the league immediately or would they be allowed to play out the season until after the Major? If the team is kicked out mid season, how would the ramifications to the standings and format be handled? If Heroic leaves after the Major, does the team get to still stay in the league going into the 2nd stage of the year? If not, how does BLAST and Ubisoft adjust? These questions would have to be answered swiftly to prevent players and staff from being caught in limbo.
This is all hypothetical at the moment, as Heroic could get the investment they need to continue operations, but it isn’t guaranteed. Given the current state of the economy and esports as a whole, organizations and venture capital investments are holding the pursestrings a lot tighter than years past. This also puts great pressure on the team as the tighter wallets means new organizations will be less likely to buy into a franchised league at this point in time.