Heavy losses at FaZe, Complexity, Guild, and others in 2022

Several major esports organizations such as FaZe Clan, Complexity Gaming, MAD LIONS, and Guild Esports have lost more than 50% in market cap in 2022 among large stock losses. Despite this, esports remain more popular than ever.

Many well-known esports organizations have suffered massive market losses this year. MAD Lions owners, Complexity, and Luminosity Gaming top the list. David Beckham will not be happy either, because his organization Guild Esports, as well as GameSquare Esports and others, lost about half of their share price.

Guild Esports has not been doing so well for a long time and it is questionable how the organization will continue in the future. But apparently, several teams and their organizations are in crisis.

Heavy stock market losses

Some of the companies have slots in Call of Duty and Overwatch leagues such as FaZe Clan, OverActive Media and Enthusiast Gaming. FaZe Clan went public after a billion dollar deal but suffered a loss of 1.6 billion in just half a year.

Here are share price losses from esports organizations and their teams this year:

• Enthusiast Gaming: -82%
  Seattle Surge (Call of Duty)
  Vancouver Titans (Overwatch)
• Luminosity Gaming (multiple disciplines)
  OverActive Media: -82%
  MAD Lions
  Toronto Ultra (Call of Duty)
  Toronto Defiant (Overwatch)
• GameSquare Esports: -54%
  Complexity Gaming (multiple disciplines)
• FaZe Clan: -82.4%
• Astral: -44%
• Guild Esports: -62%

The reasons for the big losses aren’t entirely clear, but it’s evident that 2022 hasn’t been a good year for many organizations – at least as far as stocks go.

Collapse of crypto exchanges

One of the reasons could be the collapse of the cryptocurrency industry and bankruptcy of some of the biggest crypto exchanges. The recent bankruptcy of FTX has meant a huge loss for the esports space this year. FTX had a $420M investment in TSM and also partnered with the operators of the League of Legends LCS in NA, as well as Brazilian organization FURIA Esports. However, the company suddenly declared bankruptcy last month, causing a lot of frustration for these esports companies. It’s unclear how much these companies lost as a result of the sponsor’s exit.