The CEO of North American-based esports organization M80 Absolutely snapped at VALORANT organization The Guard soon after his team’s loss in the VALORANT Challengers event earlier on the week.
The drama between 2 of the best teams in the Challengers scene, unfortunately, could not keep itself in the server. The Guard were the first instigators of the situation when the VALORANT roster convincingly demolished M80 2-0 in their last series of Group B. The Guard made a couple of jokes about M80 for paying for a Twitter blue checkmark, which can be directly bought via a Twitter Blue subscription, commonly looked down by the community.
M80’s CEO Marco Marco Mereu responded back at The Guard’s post to remind the organization that the front office fired almost all employees and massively scaled back the organization’s scope to a base crew to keep The Guard operational.
M80’s CEO via twitter:
“At least we don’t fire our entire company and walk them out. Say less”
The Guard doubled down on their response with a screenshot of a blue checkmark paid for by Mereu thanks to the Twitter Blue subscription.
At least we don’t fire our entire company and walk them out. Say less.
— M80 Marco (@mfmereu) March 16, 2023
The community is definitely divided after the situation, with some fans stating this is a childish way to create content for viewership while others felt that Mereu went too far by mentioning The Guard’s layoff situation. Layoffs have become a sensitive topic in the VALORANT competitive scene, especially after the partnership program was introduced in 2023.
Two examples of the situation were OpTic Gaming and FaZe Clan, 2 organizations with massive following in different esports scenes. Soon after the announcement was given by Riot Games, both squads ultimately decided to stop being a part of competitive VALORANT, meaning a multitude of layoffs and players without a brand to play under.
The Guard was one of the teams that were not partnered, however, they decided to retain their VALORANT roster following massive layoffs at the organization. The Guard’s management decided to cut expenses at their social media, content, talent, and creative teams around the end of February. A basic crew of workers still are part of the company, including a single social media manager.
The Guard’s VALORANT team will remain afloat for now, as stated by the organization via social media. Nevertheless, rumors have surfaced that The Guard’s Overwatch League and Call of Duty teams, the Los Angeles Gladiators and Los Angeles Guerillas respectively, will most likely remain The Guard’s brand until a possible buyer is found.
As of the moment confirmation on any buyouts are not confirmed, thus The Guard will continue to operate in their current esports titles.
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