ESL FACEIT Group undergo layoffs of 80-90 staff

Jack Stewart, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 15/10/2025

Esports tournament organiser ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) has undergone a set of layoffs.

Around 80-90 staff members are said to have lost their jobs in this latest wave as part of ‘strategic realignment.’

However, the layoffs are less severe than originally expected following an earlier report from esports journalist Richard Lewis, which suggested 200-300 firings.

News of the layoffs came through an email sent internally to staff, obtained by the Esports Insider and Richard Lewis.

The leaked EFG layoffs email

The email sent to members of staff by EFG CEO Niccolo Maisto claims the layoffs are so the company can ‘grow sustainably’.

The internal email from Maisto reads:

“Hi team,

“I want to give you an important update on where we stand as a business and what’s next.

“Since the creation of EFG, our business has nearly tripled allowing us to create experiences that we could never have imagined. This rapid growth requires continuous investment, but also introduces complexity and inefficiency over time. To ensure we can grow sustainably and keep investing in our vision for the long term, we must consolidate our options.

“Over the past year, we conducted a comprehensive review to make the business fit for purpose. This was not solely about cost cutting, but a strategic realignment to reduce complexity, streamline operations, and focus resources on areas with the biggest growth potential. These steps are necessary to help us achieve long-term sustainability.

“Unfortunately, this involved incredibly tough choices, and we will be saying goodbye to some valued colleagues. Those impacted have received separate communications. Please be supportive, gracious, and understanding as these changes take effect.

“Critically, this marks the end of this phase of change. With these foundations in place, we don’t anticipate any further changes of this scale. We’ve now established a truly sustainably foundation while not only preserving our core capabilities, but enabling us to better serve our partners and customers moving forward. We know you’ll have questions. I, alongside the management team, will host a Global Town Hall tomorrow, October 16th, to talk through the details. for immediate questions, please email <redacted>.

“Thank you for your resilience and commitment. We have faced the hard decisions, and now, with a clear direction and efficient structure, we can shift our full energy to building the future of esports. I am very excited about the future of EFG. Let’s continue to build it together.”

Past EFG layoffs and what’s next

This is the third wave of layoffs since ESL and FACEIT merged back in 2022.

In March 2024, EFG announced a round of layoffs which affected around 15% of its global workforce.

Back in May of this year, Craig Levine stepped down as co-CEO, leaving the role solely to Maisto.

And earlier this month, ESL announced the indefinite suspension of its ESL Impact women’s CS2 circuit.

EFG is also still working on next year’s Esports World Cup and the inaugural Esports Nation Cup.

According to Richard Lewis, multiple staff affected by layoffs have been told they can be offered freelance work through these 2026 events’ budgets.

Jack Stewart, Senior Editor

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.

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