In order to have a successful esports event, you need tournament integrity. That means more than good internet at the venue, it means having a good relationship with your pros including paying them on time. It seems like nobody told Hi-Rez that information, since some pro players for their Paladins game claim to have not been paid for their wins. On a post on the Paladins subreddit, Patrick “sleeppyy” Ratzow said that Hi-Rez never paid the $2,000 earned for his third place finish at the April Masters LAN Gauntlet.
“I repetitively asked about when we'd get paid but got no response,” Ratzow said. “It'd be fine if they stated they don't know yet, at least reply to the email.” After months of no response, Ratzow was forced to take the matter public and share his discomfort with the community. Within hours of the post hitting the front page of the subreddit, Hi-Rez employees had emailed Ratzow saying that they were looking into the payment problems.
Starting an esport, especially one to rival Blizzard’s Overwatch behemoth, isn’t easy but paying your players is the least you can do. Esports pros dedicate their lives to a game, unable to focus on anything else besides perfection in a virtual arena. If you want to be the best, you’ll have to beat hundreds of players who want that money just as much as you. If you don’t validate this effort with a paycheck, what’s the point of even trying? Your esport won’t reach anyone if you can’t get top tier players to compete.
Currently the Hi-Rez Expo 2018 is going on, having the world’s best Smite and Paladins players in two epic tournaments. Though no drama has happened at the event yet, if players aren’t paid there’s bound to be something wrong. I want esports to be taken seriously and huge events are always welcome, but not at the expense of players making a living wage. Hopefully, Hi-Rez fixes whatever communication problems they have and I don’t have to write about their shame ever again.
