While the Dota Pro Circuit might be dead and buried, the balance sheet from that chapter of professional Dota 2 can’t be closed, as dozens of players, staff, employees, and contractors are owed for multiple events in 2023.
New allegations about Sweden-based esports production company Epulze made waves last Thursday (Aug. 29) as host and streamer Sophia “Sophy” Mapua revealed she was still owed payment for hosting the Southeast Asia DPC in 2023.
Several replies and quotes revealed that multiple casters and talent were also missing payments from Epulze, including Maurice “KheZu” Gutmann, and Gustavo “D2Bowie” Mattos.
At least 17 individuals have come forward over the past eight months to highlight the issues with non-payment from Epulze—with seven of them coming forward following Sophy’s revelations.
Esports.net can reveal that it is aware of at least six more contractors, talent, staff, and freelancers, who preferred to remain anonymous, that are still awaiting payment from Epulze, with some of the debts dating back to the Lima Major, DPC SEA Tour 2, DreamLeague Season 19 in April 2023.
Additionally, Esports.net has received a statement from Epulze CEO Markus Lövgren regarding the late payments, including new insights. The company acknowledged the issues and attempted to explain the reasons behind them.
Epulze produced three tours of the SEA DPC in 2023. Image Credit: Epulze
Between January and July 2023, Epulze organized eight Valve-sanctioned DPC events, including all three tours of the DPC SEA, the Lima Major 2023, and Bali Major 2023. The latter two events were co-organized by 4D Esports and IO Esports, respectively. Epulze was also subcontracted by ESL FACEIT Group to provide some remote commentary, observers, and other services for DreamLeague Season 19.
Payment was reportedly received for the first tour of the DPC SEA, but issues started to emerge from the Lima Major onwards. Since then, almost all events, including Lima, the DPC tours, Bali Major, and DreamLeague Season 19 subcontracting were affected by late payment issues. Some of these payments have never been made.
Epulze representatives speaking to contractors claimed that the company was owed more than $500,000 from sponsors and partners which it had not received. This deficit caused the company to be unable to pay their invoices.
This tracks with a statement from Epulze CEO Markus Lövgren about the Lima Major, where he said that Epulze had taken a large hit from the event:
“On top of the initial mutually agreed upon budget, the company invested several hundred thousand USD into the project with the promise of a swift payback once the event concluded. The budget projection was supposed to generate a surplus but due to miscalculations from our local partner, the pre-agreed budget was increased several times and so Epulze never received any return on this project.”
“Moving on to the DPC we had some issues monetizing the DPC format and despite our best efforts, we just didn’t generate enough revenue to cover the cost of operations. The buffer that we had put in place to cover the cost of DPC regardless of sponsorship sales was eaten up by the Lima Major.”
Beyond this, allegations have been made that Epulze opted to pay “bigger” talent ahead of others in order to prevent them from speaking out about these issues.
Some talent of all levels were asked to cover their airfare, which, they were told, would be compensated later. The cost of airfare for talent effectively turned some events into complete financial losses for the talent.
Epulze operated as a talent agency, holding commission deals with some of it’s inhouse talents. The company would offer its talent’s services, including casting, production, observing, and other roles to other tournament operators. Most of these jobs were paid in full, minus commision, but others were not.
The company also asked talent if they’d be willing to take payments in instalments, although no payments ultimately materialized. Many of Epulze’s contracts reportedly operated on ‘net 30’ basis, meaning they were scheduled to be paid within 30 days of the invoice being submitted. At the time of writing, some of those payments are over 400 days overdue.
The Lima Major was a loss for both talent and production companies. Image Credit: u/mfckerjones_2
Despite the payment issues, the majority of people Esports.net talked to didn’t hold it against the company. Several pointed to a “dream work environment,” with many complimenting the character of higher ups, and how much they enjoyed working with Epulze. Sources familiar with the situation also suggested that the company’s directors haven’t been drawing a salary since around Summer 2023.
Instead, they pointed to issues around responsibility, with blame for missing payments often placed at the feet of sponsors and other tournament operators. This aligns with statements by the company which point to local partners during both Bali and Lima Majors going over pre-agreed budgets. This in turn affected the cash flow for the DPC events.
As for why many have spoken out recently–they had simply reached a breaking point where frustration and financial concerns meant they could no longer remain silent.
The following is a timeline compiled via public statements and messages shared with Esports.net and other reporters.
Image Credit: Epulze
In June 2024, Epulze announced a round of layoffs at the company. These came just three years after the company had reportedly secured around SEK 57 million (around $5.5 million USD) in funding.
But sources familiar with the company have suggested that final payments from investors simply never materialized. This allegedly left the company in the lurch as they attempted to make payments in the 2023 DPC season.
The company confirmed that a new round of funding had started last year, partially to cover the loss incurred during events. Unfortunately, the current financial climate has reportedly made it tough to reach fundraising goals.
Epulze has also found itself subject to difficulties in simply cutting its losses. It’s alleged by sources that due to intricacies in Swedish and Malaysian employment and corporate law, the company can’t simply dissolve. In Sweden, employers are apparently liable for fines and damages if they don’t pay salaries. In Malaysia (where the company’s studio is based), a company reportedly cannot be dissolved unless all outstanding salary debts have been paid.
This could mean that Epulze must clear months of salary debt before it’s able to process any outstanding invoices to talent and contractors. This could also be interpreted as a company attempting to do right by its employees.
Epulze’s story is unfortunately not uncommon in Dota 2, with lack of payment being a historic issue, ranging from the notorious GESC in 2018 to as recent as Gamer’s Galaxy Dubai Invitational in 2023.
Epulze’s payment issues joined dozens of others in the community contributed Dota 2 Debts Tracker, created by Ben “Noxville” Steenhuisen.
Closing his statement to Esports.net, Epulze’s CEO Markus Lövgren accepted responsibility for the payment issues:
“Even though some circumstances have been out of our ability to influence, we take responsibility over the situation and our ambition is to make good towards everyone. During the past year we have slowly but steadily made progress in covering parts of the outstanding payments. We are in constant communication with relevant parties and will continue to cover payments as we move forward.”
Lövgren ended his comments on a positive note: “The company is confident in our ability to solve the situation long-term and appreciates everyone’s continued patience.”
Additional reporting and research for this piece by Devin Soetjipto
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