Karmine Corp’s former CEO, Arthur Perticoz, has released a lengthy statement explaining why the French esports organisation were not included in the release of the controversial new Rocket League esports decals and goal explosions.
There was significant community backlash to the new in-game esports items with only 12 teams selected for the new release. In particular, there was frustration over some of the teams that weren’t chosen and Karmine Corp was one of the biggest examples, considering the organisation’s huge following in France and the fact that they recently won the RLCS Birmingham Major.
Perticoz, who was the organisation’s CEO before stepping down earlier this year to focus on Karmine Corp’s strategic direction, revealed that one of the last decisions he made in his former role was denying the chance to have content in the game.
The translated explanation reads: “We decided not to accept the offer for the KCorp decal. The amount offered did not reflect our perception of the value of our brand.”
Perticoz states that Karmine Corp were given a fixed offer based on the team’s Rocket League in-game sales in 2024. He felt this was unfair as the team had an uncharacteristically bad year and claims that this heavily impacted their sales: “Yes, we missed an open in 2024, which caused a snowball effect: a team in pain, no major 2, no EWC (there was supposed to be a qualifier), no skin sales because we never play (sales were good in the first quarter of 2024). It was already hard to live with in 2024, but now all this snowballs onto the 2025 offer.
“Our discussions with Epic were respectful (thank you for their time) but fruitless. We simply decided not to accept an offer that was lower than our expectations (for a decal made in 5 days).”
He then went on to stress Karmine Corp’s commitment to Rocket League and what they offer to the scene: “Karmine Corp has been involved in the game for several years. The casts of Kameto and Kenny have put the game at the top of the audience in our region. Fans travel, make events about the game vibrate and shine. We invest massively in the rosters despite the difficulties of the scene. We can’t be blamed for anything; we give everything out of love for this game. We felt that this additional effort on our part was too much.”
Essentially, Perticoz didn’t like the quality of the cosmetics and believes the organisation contributes a lot to the Rocket League esports scene and deserves more than a single, flat-rate offer based on a difficult year competitively. It’s likely negotiations would have been very different if Karmine Corp had been offered a percentage of the team’s in-game cosmetic sales.
Perticoz ended the statement by insisting the organisation still believes in the esport’s potential and apologised to Karmine Corp fans: “Rocket League is a magnificent esports game. Working together, publishers, league organizers, and clubs can make this game a Tier 1 competitive title. At KC, we’re convinced of this, but we need to find a way to live up to our contribution.
“I’m sorry that you (the fans) are being punished by our decision, but I hope you understand that the club must protect its interests. This year, there will be no decal, but we will compensate with a shower of trophies.”
In my seven years of esports writing, I’ve introuduced esports coverage to newspapers, interviewed some of the biggest names in the industry, and driven viewers mad with the puns in my YouTube scripts. I’m most proud of the latter.
