Brace yourself for a ride. This article will tackle all the drama, controversies, and issues with Bleed Esports this year, 2024. Indeed, it is a catastrophic meltdown that happened for one of the prominent Asian esports organizations. Multiple controversies involving the organization’s team across different titles gained attention from unpaid salaries to investigations. The mounting issues of the team had fans and the community asking where things went wrong.
VCT Pacific Removal and VALORANT Drama
On October 4, 2024, Riot Games shocked the Valorant esports community with the announcement of BLEED Esports removal from the VCT Pacific League. This news aired out in public about the troubles that the organization is currently facing. According to Riot, BLEED failed to comply with the critical reporting requirements. Besides that, they also failed to fulfill other key obligations under the Team Participation Agreement.
This left a vacant spot in the league’s 12-team format, hence the promotion of BOOM Esports in the VCT Pacific League. It’s a shame that the upcoming competitive season won’t see BLEED Esports in action.
Counter-Strike Team Exodus and Financial Disputes
Trouble continues and extends to their Counter-Strike team. After the VCT removal, BLEED’s Counter-Strike division publicly cut ties with the organization for extensive financial irregularities.
The issue sparked up as the CS2 team began their direct protest through competing under the name “UNPAID.” Based on Coach Aleksandar “kassad” Trifunović, the owed of the organization accumulated to over $300,000 in various payments. These include the following:
- $130,000 unpaid to Apeks from May
- $42,000 unpaid to G2 from June
- $100,000 in unpaid prize money
- Multiple unpaid player salaries ranging from $10,000 to $20,000
Rainbow 6 Payment Issues
The issue worsens as it spreads over to other team divisions, such as Rainbow Six Siege. Terdsta of BLEED’s Rainbow 6 team revealed that the organization has not yet paid him over $35,000. Moreover, he was only receiving less than $700 USD monthly while living abroad. This certainly is not enough to make ends meet, thus leaving him to rely on his streaming income to pay for his basic necessities.
Mobile Legends Players Stranded
However, BLEED EsportsBLEED Esports organization issues do not stop with the financial irregularities. The team allegedly abandoned two of their Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) players in Singapore, which raised concerns in the community. On October 13, 2024, the MPL Singapore Season 8 saw the conclusion, which had foreign players returning home. However, BLEED Esports’ Filipino players, Kyle “Dominic” Soto and Folkmarr, left stranded in Singapore without plane tickets going home.
Besides, they neither have communication with the upper management following their bootcamp. It was irresponsible of the management to cease communication with their players after the tournament without ensuring they return to their countries safely.
Criminal Investigation of CEO
The troubles mount up as BLEED’s CEO, Goh En Wei Mervyn, faces criminal trial in Singapore. On October 21, 2024, he went to court for alleged violation of broad Penal Code 1871, yet the specific charges remain unclear. Previously, Mervyn’s name surfaced in connection with the assault charges against Lincoln Lim Jun Hong in 2022. For now, details regarding his trial remain hidden and uncertain.
Management Issues
With all the controversies involving the team, this just shows how dysfunctional their management is. Players failed to communicate their concerns over the situation as both management heads became unreachable. COO Ian Huston excuses himself, citing his upcoming marriage as a reason for his absence while CEO Mervyn Goh embroils in criminal charges. However, this wasn’t a sufficient reason for the lack of communication, as they have responsibilities on their players.
Conclusion
Uncertainty looms over BLEED Esports as their teams across esports leagues are in states of dissolution. Their removal from VCT Pacific is a huge blow to the team’s credentials, followed by the issue with the Rainbow Six division. Besides, the organization also accumulated hundreds of thousands of unpaid amounts to players and employees, which is concerning for the esports community.
Moreover, as their CEO faced criminal charges, the management is now in shambles. Perhaps this may be the cruel end to a once-promising esports organization.
