Are G Fuel shutting down? Nope, it’s just a strangely marketed rebrand.
Official G Fuel social media accounts posted that they are “logging out,” thanking the community for “the love, the grind, and the memories.” However, they are not actually shutting down.
Their posts that suggest a concrete farewell are actually part of marketing their rebrand. However, the gaming and esports community are not happy with their tactics.
The G Fuel rebrand confusion: explained
On the evening of September 2nd, or early morning of September 3rd for the UK, G Fuel posted a seemingly heartfelt thanks to their community, stating “the end of an era” and that they were “logging off.”
The energy drink company has long maintained ties with the gaming and esports communities, including through partnering with events such as the UK Esports Awards back in 2018.
Unsurprisingly, many people immediately assumed that the energy drink powder company were closing operations. Even the esports and gaming news page of Jake Lucky reported that they were officially shutting down.
Some genuine and some pointed tributes began to spread online. The company Devolver Digital proclaimed that “the gaming world and gut health in general will never be the same.”
However, this was not actually the case.
It turns out that G Fuel are actually rebranding.
According to comments and community notes on X, the post has nothing to do with G Fuel ceasing operations and is simply a marketing ploy for engagement.
When the rebrand clarification began to spread online, backlash followed closely behind.
Some creators mocked the approach, with streamer ‘nutty’ posting, “I will be pursuing a new passion – doing the sme thing I’ve always done with little to no changes at all. Please pretend this is a huge deal so people pay more attention to me.”
Others were more direct in their criticism. ‘Dunk,’ founder and CEO of esports media and content company GamePlan Media, called out the post as “arguably one of the worst ways to market a rebrand.”
Regardless, it seems that G Fuel is here to stay.
Why did they announce their rebrand this way?
Making it sound as though the company is closing for an engagement boost is not an unknown tactic. However, it also appears as though G Fuel was attempting to utilise the popularity of community notes on X (formerly Twitter) to boost their announcement.
As the post began spreading online, a community note was posted clarifying that the post was referring to a rebrand, not closure.
According to screenshots posted by disgruntled community members, reports were made to the community notes program complaining that “community notes are not for advertising stunts.”
At the time of writing, the community note is no longer present on the post.
Does G Fuel owe creators money?
The pre-emptive assumption that the brand is closing operations has also opened the floodgates to non-payment claims.
Streamer Kalei quickly responded to G Fuel’s poorly worded farewell, stating that they owed her approximately $20,000. In the comments under her post, she suggested the actual figure could be closer to $30,000.
Additional comments under G Fuel’s controversial post raised other historically problematic moves from the company. This included references to the firing of talent managers in 2022 following complaints regarding the CEO’s alleged misogynistic and inappropriate behaviour.
Regardless, G Fuel is here to stay, for better or for worse.
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