UK esports organisation Into the Breach (ITB) have today announced they’re winding down operations due to their CEO taking company funds for personal use.
Sam Macedonio Cook (aka SlayTheMinotaur), CEO and Founder of Into the Breach, admitted to taking out ‘around £600,000 in director’s loans at incorrect times and without due process’, and ‘blowing it all on benders and self-harm action’.
This has left staff, players and partners without the money they are owed. Update: Esports News UK understands that staff owed this month’s wages will be getting paid, thanks to venture studio Fisher8, which has a majority stake in ITB. It is the player prize money and Paris Major sticker money that is up in the air (more on that further below).
Sam apologised for his actions and praised the work of other staff at the organisation, in particular following Into the Breach’s incredible (and now tarnished) top eight showing at the CS 2023 Paris Major.
“Veb, Kuba, Momo, Bainy, Blainey, Punico and more recently Bevve, TeaGuv and Raine all played their part perfectly, and deserve every opportunity afforded to them,” he said. “Brilliant people and innately hard working.
‘Unfortunately, I, the CEO, was acting as two people – one trying to match [the efforts of my staff] and another a destructive, alcoholic narcissist hellbent on self-immolation.’
Sam Cook
His comments follow a sudden announcement made on Into the Breach’s X account this afternoon. (Update: and a few days later, former ITB staff announced they had set up a separate org, Team Nemesis).
“Recent events at Into the Breach have highlighted significant mismanagement within the organisation,” ITB said. “Upon further investigation, we discovered that an individual entrusted with all financial and monetary decisions was embezzling funds for personal use,” ITB claimed.
“This betrayal has left ITB in an unsustainable position, and with deep regret, we must begin the process of winding down our operations.”
The org described it as a ‘heartbreaking moment’, thanked their fans for their support over the years, and said they are now working with legal and financial advisors to handle the situation.
Sam’s actions are of course serious, and he could be hit with fines and potentially imprisonment.
Esports News UK also understands there’s been some delays on prize pools being paid out to players in 2024, with money still owed. There have also been some salary delays in the past, though sources claimed this was partly due to banking issues.
Update: Into the Breach’s CSO also posted this statement, claiming Sam withheld financial information and that he misappropriated more than £700,000 over a one-and-a-half-year period.
Another update: UK Valorant community The Goose House, which was part-owned by ITB, has announced it’s closing as a business, but its community Discord server will remain open.
The UK Esports Team Committee has also removed Into the Breach as one of its members.
ITB’s BeCosy clothing company has also tweeted:
TeaGuvnor, Dota 2 caster and coach, said: “As of today, ITB has let go of the Dota team.
“We were not aware of the financial issues ITB had with its other teams. Had we been, we would have found another organisation.
UK Siege player Kendrew added: “Found out via Twitter that I’m not receiving the $12,500 I’m owed, what a fucking brilliant industry we’re in, aye?
The news also comes just one day after ITB’s Halo team won the European Halo Kick-Off 2025 LAN in London.
UK Counter-Strike players who have represented ITB, including smooya (recently) and Thomas (who played with them at the Paris Major) have spoken out against Sam’s behaviour.
“Disappointment is an understament,” Thomas said. “You’re totally delusional, Sam, and contractually you committed fraud… I don’t know how you can publicly come out with this as a ‘statement’ when you were trying to scam us from the start.”
smooya added: “Thank you ‘SlayTheMinotaur’ for laundering money behind everyone’s back and scamming over $500,000 from your own players. ESPORTS.
“Seems some ex-managers were spending the company’s money on personal food deliveries as well as others buying designer clothes etc, all with the players’ money. Lets fucking go!”
The shocking turn of events has of course left a stain on the Into the Breach name, and tarnished their Paris Major run and other achievements.
Dispute on Paris Major sticker pay also led to Into the Breach’s demise, says former CEO
Sam Cook (aka SlayTheMinotaur), CEO and Founder of Into the Breach, also posted about the sticker money following the org’s Paris Major top eight finish in 2023.
“Part of the straw that broke the camels back was a dispute on final sticker pay,” Sam said.
“Being a retard/intoxicated/trying to off myself incrementally, I signed a contract to pay-out the final sticker share which was delayed (legitimately) due to banking issues (our USD bank details changed and it took a long time to replace them).
“Legally, and as per contract, the players are entitled to the revenue from the Paris 2023 Legends Sticker Capsule, which would constitute team stickers. I.e. the logo for each team which can then be ‘stuck’ onto in-game assets and so named the sticker capsule.
“What I did was pay the players from all sources, which amounted to around $241,071.61 per player. By contract, they were owed $178,850.21. However, as per aforementioned retardation and alcoholism, I’d signed a contract promising them an additional $42,000 which I underwrote personally.
“What followed was a dispute, which laid bare all of my failures, and is one small part of this collapse. Just want to be clear, the Paris guys did get paid, prize pool, salary and transfer fees. Doesn’t make anything right, however.”
Sam also said that ITB made around £4m in 2023, and somewhere around £1.5m up to 2024, before mentioning taking out the aforementioned £600,000 and blowing it.
The org made an estimated £1.37m from the Paris Major alone, in 2023, according to this CS sticker money post on Esports Insider by Dafydd Gwynn.
The news comes a few days after the organisation announced they had re-entered Dota 2 esports.
Last summer, ITB secured million-dollar yearly investment from Shuffle.com.
Today’s news, aside from being deeply troubling and sad, is doubly frustrating given the money that is owed to people, and the fact that Into the Breach were one of few UK esports organisations that had done well in several esports, with decent staff and players. The actions of one person have now ruined this.
ITB had great staff and players, that incredible Paris Major run and other achievements, plus bags of potential. Another UK esports org gone, then, but this time for totally avoidable reasons. What a waste.
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.
