Apex professionals complain about payment delays

Again and again, there are stories that come to light that professional players were not paid or had to wait months or years for their money. Unfortunately, these scandals didn’t avoid the Apex Legends scene either. Recently, several Apex pros publicly complained about not being paid after this summer’s ALGS LAN Championship.

And it looks like this public complaint has paid off, because just a day later, players suddenly had the money in their accounts. Still, it’s a shame that the payouts finally got to the pros only after the public outcry. Many players feel that the complaints are the only reason why the payouts have ended up with their rightful owners after months of waiting.

Players have to wait months for prize money

While it’s not uncommon to sometimes have to wait a couple of months for an esports tournament payout, the issues specific to ALGS emerged after Australian player Ben “Wxltzy” Walton of Moist Esports noted that he and his team were set to play in the Split One Playoffs LAN while still awaiting their winnings from the ALGS Championship LAN in July of this year. His story was subsequently shared by Full Squad Gaming’s Jake Lucky. And just after the two players publicly commented, they finally got paid.

Payment only after persistent complaints

Of course, that was no coincidence. Unfortunately, as is so often the case with large institutions, you often only get what you need after asking multiple times. Many pros took to social media and revealed that the players who got paid the fastest were often the ones who complained the most to PGL, one of the companies involved in hosting the ALGS Championship.

There are rules for paying professionals, but unfortunately, they are a bit vague. The ALGS rules for last season state that players must sign a “Declaration and Release of Winner” within three months of the tournament in order to receive the prize money and then it can take up to three months for that money to arrive.

It is not entirely clear whether this means three months from the date the declaration is signed and delivered or whether those three months start after the end of the original three-month period for players to claim their prize. Many players reported that they had to wait six months or more for their withdrawals, which can be very frustrating when you are dependent on this money. Another problem is that the conversion rates fluctuate and players have already lost quite a bit of money as a result.

Professionalism in esports?

What exactly is causing the delays in payments is not entirely clear. It could be anything from international price laws to currency conversion problems to plain old organizational bureaucracy. All of this doesn’t bode well for esports when pros keep having to complain publicly because they have to wait months for their rightfully earned money and makes tournament organizers look beyond unprofessional.

Header: Electronic Arts