Teams that competed in the recent WBC (Women’s Car Ball) Rocket League tournaments have been paid, following complaints.
Jeff Simpkins, COO of UK esports organisation Resolve tweeted a few days ago saying that the teams have apparently all been paid their prize money, after months of waiting.
“However, there are still tens of thousands owed to G1 staff and WCB staff that will be paid ‘in the near future’,” Jeff added. “I’ve asked for clarity on what that means.
“This over promising and under delivering has to stop, it consistently makes our industry look bad.”
ByMateos, a former Rocket League player for G1 (which is both a team organisation and the WCB owner and tournament operator), also posted this, claiming that G1 owes their original Rocket League roster some $150,000.
He said it was embarrassing, and also added a clown emoji next to G1’s name in his Twitter bio.
The WCB has been hit with controversies around payments for some time.
In January earlier this year, the Rocket League community was left frustrated as the Women’s Car Ball Championship was put on hold for financial reasons.
Then, in late February, Gamers First (G1) announced they had acquired Women’s Car Ball. But the community has complained about late payments throughout the year.
Teams previously threatened to boycott the Championships unless prize money and staff were paid.
People in the community started getting blocked by the G1 social media X/Twitter account. G1 then put out a statement saying this was done without their knowledge or approval, and that a team member responsible has now been removed.
G1 added: “The public sentiment is completely justified and we take full responsibility for our faults and missteps as an organisation. We are actively working to make everyone involved whole and hope to mend these relationships as we restore operations to an optimal state. Your patience and understanding, while not deserved, would be greatly appreciated.”
Elsewhere, Jess from Resolve has also tweeted about Evolve PCs, the company that G1 purchased this year, has not been fulfilling orders, with customers making public complaints online.
The most recent WCB Season 5 in August featured plenty of UK and Irish talent, in teams such as Resolve (who finished runners-up behind Gen.G), Emisure, Guild Academy and Endpoint CeX UV.
Endpoint UK player Slumpii, who has competed in WCB, also posted some tweets here and here ahead of the recent team payments.
The WCB socials have been quiet recently apart from several posts promoting merchandise, most of which have been met with comments from players asking to get paid.
The news is the latest in a line of similar developments that paint an increasingly bleak picture of esports.
Earlier this month, we published an article about the Scottish Esports League 6 being delayed with staff and players being left unpaid, and the MNM Gaming Rainbow Six Siege roster leaving the organisation over a lack of payments. Then, it was revealed that Promod Esports is set to close down, with its assets being sold in order to pay those owed money.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
