Each month, Esports Insider compiles the period’s most significant movers and shakers in esports. Throughout September, a variety of different personnel announcements highlighted the positives and negatives of the esports industry.
Here’s the top personnel news for September 2022. Click the link in the corresponding title below for the full story.
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A simple Tweet on September 16th announced Aram Karamanukyan as the new CEO of, and investor in, Russian esports organisation Virtus.pro. The announcement caught the esports community by surprise, especially due to the low profile with which it was made: an unverifiable Tweet from a brand new Twitter account.
Esports Insider spoke to the man now at the helm of Virtus.pro to discuss why he invested in the organisation, his plans, and what drove him to esports.
G2 Esports Co-founder Carlos ‘Ocelote’ Rodríguez has resigned his position as CEO following backlash over a video with controversial influencer Andrew Tate.
The Spaniard announced the decision on social media Friday night. G2 Esports quickly followed with a statement accepting the resignation and underlining that it does not “support any form of misogyny”.
North American esports organisation XSET has announced a number of changes to its leadership structure.
As a part of the restructuring, the organisation’s Co-owner Erin Ashley Simon has been appointed as its new Chief Culture Officer, and Steve Birkhold will step up as Chief Operating Officer. In his previous role as the Chief Merchandise Officer, Birkhold helped build out XSET’s fashion and merchandising department alongside Chief Creative Officer and Co-founder Wil Eddins.
Cory Lanier, the Esports Product Manager for Rocket League developer Psyonix, has announced his departure from the company to start a new role at Amazon.
His departure marks the end of a five-and-a-half year stretch in which Lanier oversaw Rocket League’s considerable rise in size and fortunes as an esport. In a Twitter thread, Lanier announced that he will start a new position at retail giant Amazon as a Senior Product Manager of Tech following a few weeks’ break.
EXCEL ESPORTS Co-founder Kieran Holmes-Darby has filed a claim against the organisation to an employment tribunal, UK court filings show.
The claim in question was confirmed by EXCEL, as first reported by The Jacob Wolf Report, but the reason for and contents of it are unknown. According to the official court documents, the hearing is set to take place on October 11th at the London Central Employment Tribunal.
Movers and Shakers EXCLUSIVE: Pablo Monti departs FITCHIN and QLASH for BingX
Pablo Monti, formerly of European esports organisation QLASH and blockchain platform FITCHIN, has joined cryptocurrency exchange BingX as its Brand Ambassador. In his new role, Monti will be responsible for overseeing and executing BingX’s PR & Communication strategies. Prior to joining the company, Monti was QLASH’s Head of Marketing, Communications and PR.
Speaking to Esports Insider, he said: “I’ve always worked in innovative sectors and projects. I started digging into blockchain a few years ago and now I decided to move into one of the most relevant cryptocurrency exchanges worldwide. I spent the last 10 years of my life working with esports at TyC Sports, QLASH and FITCHIN, and I’m sure I’ll continue to pay attention to the esports ecosystem in my new role.”
Esports holding company GameSquare Esports has added eight new team members to its leadership structure in a bid to further increase revenue growth.
The company has hired former VICE Media Group, 100 Thieves, Rodale and Twitch employees, among others, to speed up growth across both GameSquare and its esports organisation Complexity Gaming.
Kevin Lin, the Co-founder of live streaming platform Twitch, has joined Web3 gaming and esports organisation BAYZ as its new Strategic Advisor.
In his role, Lin will advise BAYZ on decisions regarding its expansion plans and business model. He will also support the development of new strategies in the web3 environment.
Free Fire publisher Garena has laid off staff globally, two anonymous sources connected to the story told Esports Insider. The sources also revealed additional details of what is happening in the company.
It comes following a 75% drop of shares of Garena’s parent company SEA Group earlier this year. According to the sources, the downsizing started in February 2022 when Garena began attempting to reform streaming platform BOOYAH! to change its focus.
Esports data company Bayes Esports has appointed four new names to its management team, formed of two new hires and the promotions of two long-standing employees of the company.
The two new hires for leadership positions are Christopher Bohlmann as Director of Growth and Finance, and André Schneider, as Senior Director of People & Culture. The company’s management team is reinforced by Bayes’ well-established employees Axel Fromberg as Senior Director of Sales and Dr. Suzanne Ardisson as Head of Strategic Communications.
