Esports Movers and Shakers is Esports Insider’s monthly compilation of the biggest personnel moves in the esports industry.
March 2024 was a rather quiet month for personnel news. However, what this month lacked in quantity, it made up for in quality with GRID, 100 Thieves and HEORIC making major appointments to bolster their operations.
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Spotlighted story
The so-called “esports winter” has been one of the main industry topics for the better part of 2023, and the start of 2024.
With the esports industry struggling to get back on the right track after a major correction following the boom during the pandemic, a large number of employees from both esports and gaming industries have been laid off, with some organisations closing their doors and others trying to focus on their core business.
In this article, we’ll aim to track all major esports industry layoffs during 2024, as well as some notable rounds from 2023.
North American esports organisation 100 Thieves has announced that founding executive and current President and COO John Robinson will be moving to an advisor role within the company.
To fill the void, 100 Thieves has promoted three executives to the roles of Chief Business Officer (CBO), President and Chief Operations Officer (COO).
100 Thieves’ Chief Financial Officer Jason Ton has been revealed as the new CBO, whilst also retaining his current position. Jacob Toft-Andersen, the organisation’s former Senior Vice President for Esports, has been promoted to President, whilst Julie Van, formerly Senior Vice President for People, is 100 Thieves’ new COO.
Game data platform GRID has appointed Tim Sevenhuysen and Julian Schwartz to senior positions at the company.
Sevenhuysen joins GRID as its Senior Business Data Consultant while Schwartz has been named Vice President of Business Development.
Best known for founding League of Legends esports statistics website Oracle’s Elixir, Sevenhuysen previously worked at North American esports organisation 100 Thieves as its Director of Esports Analytics. His new role at GRID will see him support teams utilising GRID’s League of Legends, VALORANTand Rainbow Six Siege Data Portals, per a release.
Krystian Jaroszynski has joined Scandinavian esports organisation HEROIC as its new Chief Commercial Officer (CCO).
The esports veteran previously worked at Tencent-owned game publisher Level Infinite as its Senior Esports Manager for the MENA Publishing division.
Equipped with a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Jaroszynski has worked in tech and esports for nearly 17 years. Starting as a Technical Support Engineer for AMD in 2007, Jaroszynski’s career journey includes employers such as HyperX and Kingston Technology Europe.
Following his departure from the Swedish esports organisation Ninjas in Pyjamas, Jonas Gundersen has officially launched his own venture, the Continuum X Group.
Gundersen made the announcement via a social media post, noting he is looking to bring value to the esports ecosystem by offering a combination of investments, strategic advisory and management.
Continuum X Group is an investment, advisory and management firm with a focus on the esports and gaming space. As well as founding the company, Gundersen will also take the role of CEO.
League of Legends’ Vietnam Championship Series (VCS) has temporarily suspended 32 individuals due to integrity concerns that have occurred during its Spring 2024 season.
As a result of the investigation, all remaining VCS Group Stage matches have been cancelled, while the Spring Finals have been postponed until further notice.
VCS is Vietnam’s professional League of Legends competition and offers team qualifications to major tournaments such as the Mid-Season Invitational and World Championship. Initially part of the Garena Premier League, VCS became an independent league in 2018 and became solely organised by Riot Games in 2023.
German esports organisation Sprout Esports has announced it has ceased operations.
On social media, the organisation noted that its existing business model ‘is no longer viable to ensure sustainable and healthy growth’.
As a result of the organisation ceasing operations, all of its players and members of staff have been released from their contracts. According to a statement, Sprout Esports looked at ‘alternative strategies’ before deciding to close its doors.
Founded in 2017, Sprout Esports fielded teams in Counter-Strike, PUBG Battlegrounds, Trackmania and sim racing. Over the last six years, the organisation achieved victory in six ESL Meisterschaft tournaments alongside appearances at the ELEAGUE Boston and IEM Rio CS:GO Majors. The organisation also supported amateur esports, fielding an Academy Counter-Strike roster to support the growth of upcoming talent.
