Endpoint Pete: “Our goal is always to get back into having a professional Counter-Strike team”

On August 26, Endpoint co-founder and CEO, Adam Jessop, made a series of posts outlining Endpoint’s current relationship with esports.

Jessop stated, “As much as it pains myself and Pete, having a competitive esports team is not our core focus anymore… but for now we are focused on areas of the business that are showing growth.”

The statement was no surprise to fans of Endpoint’s esports division. November 2024 saw Endpoint remove itself from the RLCS for the 2025 season, before the decision was taken to pause its Counter-Strike division in February 2025.

Jessop later clarified, “This was never meant as an announcement of us ditching esports, we would never, and hope to return with the right opportunity.”

Yet what the opportunity looks like and what it will potentially unfold is uncertain.

Esports News UK asked Endpoint co-founder, Pete Thompson, about Endpoint’s current relationship with esports, and for his reflections on Adam Jessop’s tweets.

but for now we are focused on areas of the business that are showing growth.

I really hope the UK scene has a revival and brands come back in to the market, but most of all I pray for that key revenue driver to be realised, away from sponsorships. (5/7)

— Adam Jessop (@AdamJessop) August 26, 2025

Endpoint co-founder, Pete Thompson, on Endpoint’s relationship with esports:

Adam Jessop made a post about Endpoint essentially being outside of esports. Do you have any kind of reflections?

The thing is that what Adam and I want the most is to be in esports; we still are in the sense of like UKIC, and running esports events.

Also, with our content creators, we’re trying to put them into esports events as well.

So, the RLCS, we actually played most of the RLCS this year, but through the content creator route, and we’re having some fun with that.

“We had these great players coming through, you know, flameZ, HeavyGod, mezii, Seikoo, in Rocket League… I still know to this day that if we hadn’t sold those players, we would be bankrupt.“
Pete on selling players

But yeah, our goal is always to get back into having a professional Counter-Strike team or whatever [esport]. It’s just a very hard thing to monetise.

You kind of need to be at the top end or the bottom end, and that middle ground is really hard because for years and years, we would have this kind of churn of money coming out.

Then, let’s say we sold a player, you’d get back to break even, or make a bit of profit, and then you start losing every month again, and then you would sell a player.

But at that point, what happens when you pick the wrong players or they don’t quite develop how you think, and you don’t sell a player? You just end up in this money pit of horribleness.

As a bootstrapped brand, that’s really hard if you haven’t got those millions of backing.

“We’ve never had a betting sponsor. In the UK, it’s pretty hard to get it. You have to have someone who’s legit unless you don’t care about that, but unfortunately, we do.”
Pete on Endpoint and gambling sponsors

This is the downside of not having massive VC (venture capitalist) investment: we have so many examples of where we had these great players coming through, you know, flameZ, HeavyGod, mezii, Seikoo, in Rocket League.

If we had the backing, we could have just gone and offered them that next contract, where their salary goes up three times or something, and we would have known it was the right decision to try and make the major, but we didn’t have that.

And I still know to this day that if we hadn’t sold those players, we would be bankrupt. There’s no doubt about that.

If you take Counter-Strike as a prime example, I have always said that you need one of three things to break even, and you need two or three things to actually make it a viable business.

I think those three things are that you need to make a major, you need a very good sponsor, usually betting, unfortunately—

We’ve never had a betting sponsor. In the UK, it’s pretty hard to get it. You have to have someone who’s legit unless you don’t care about that, but unfortunately, we do.

The third thing is you need to sell players.

“As soon as you get outside of Tier 1, viewership just drops off a cliff”
Pete on competing below Tier 1

So those three things, it’s hard to do all three, because unless you’re maybe ENCE, who seem to have done all three occasionally, or I don’t know that they might not have had betting…

But let’s say you made the major and you have a betting sponsor, you’re really nice and profitable. Great. Get the stick of money, whatever.

If you sell players and you have a betting sponsor, great. You’re making money. You’re good.

If you just sell players, you probably break even. If you just have a betting sponsor, you probably break even. If you just made the major, you probably break even.

If you have none of those three things, you’re dead, and that’s Counter-Strike.

Today we are placing our Counter-Strike division on hold with immediate effect.

Our full statement 👇 pic.twitter.com/2wvxCLNRPH

— Endpoint CeX (@TeamEndpoint) February 4, 2025

Then you look at other models like Rocket League. Great, you can get a car in the game, potentially.

You used to be able to get a decal with your sponsor on the side. You can no longer do that, which was a big factor in us leaving, because you can’t sell that spot anymore.

The problem with most other esports is that you have Tier 1, which is okay, and you get lots of viewership. You make the majors. Great. All this kind of stuff.

But as soon as you get outside of Tier 1, viewership just drops off a cliff, and that’s most esports other than Counter-Strike and maybe DotA.

Tier 2 is really hard, unless there’s a betting ecosystem, unfortunately.