Another mass layoff in esports, this time at The Guard

Among the recent mass layoffs in multiple industries, esports organization The Guard is next to lay off several people, mostly from the creative department. The future of the teams is also uncertain. The reasons for the mass layoffs are still unclear.

There has long been speculation that this year will be particularly tough for the esports industry. In fact, big organizations like 100 Thieves and OpTic Gaming, FaZe Clan have already laid off dozens of employees. The gaming and tech companies themselves are also letting people go all the time. The reason given is often the economic situation.

The Guard layoff 

Now The Guard has followed suit. Several employees at the Los Angeles-based esports organization have announced that they have been fired. Many of the employees who were laid off were part of The Guard’s creative and production teams.

Clothing designer Carlie Kay was among the first to announce that The Guard is laying off several employees. She wrote on Twitter: “As of today, all positions at The Guard have been eliminated.”

Minutes later, Hunter Grooms, a media personality from The Guard, also tweeted that mass layoffs had taken place. He announced that the organization just laid off its entire social media, talent, content, and creative team, even posting a selfie with the entire team just before they got the news.

A questionable situation

The situation at The Guard is reportedly being handled extremely poorly. Taking to Twitter, Ariel Ben-Abraham, who had relocated to Los Angeles two days earlier to work for the organization, explained how local security forces tried to detain him as he attempted to back up important files on his laptop before leaving had to.

All of this comes as a huge surprise. As recently as ten days ago, The Guard was actively hiring new staff in the departments they have now laid off. That raises even more question marks. The layoffs shocked everyone in the esports industry because the organization is backed by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, one of the largest esports companies in the world.

The decision is believed to have been made by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, which is run by Stan Kroenke, a businessman with a reported net worth of $13 billion. In addition to The Guard, KSE owns Arsenal FC, the Denver Nuggets, the LA Rams and several massive stadiums around the world. It’s hard to believe that KSE has money problems, so there’s probably a more complex reason behind the unexpected layoff of an entire esports organization.

The Guard esports teams

The Guard operates multiple teams across titles including VALORANT, Overwatch, Call of Duty, and Apex Legends. All of these teams have a large fan base and are currently still actively participating in tournaments. It is currently unclear whether the layoffs will also affect the teams.

The American company has achieved quite some success in some of the titles in which it participates. The VALORANT team won the first stage of the VCT Challenger last year and placed eighth at the Masters. The LA Guerrillas won the second major of the Call of Duty League last year. The Los Angeles Gladiators took first place in multiple Overwatch League tournaments in 2022, earning up to $500,000 in prize money for the organization.