The Guard’s Future in Question After Sudden Layoffs in Creative Division
The esports powerhouse The Guard has suddenly eliminated several roles in its creative division, and its teams’ future is still being determined due to the tremendous damage that the organization has taken.
It was anticipated that the gaming and esports sectors would have a challenging year in 2023. And up to this point, it has proven to be exceedingly difficult, with Microsoft-owned studios laying off over 10,000 people and esports powerhouses 100 Thieves and OpTic letting go of dozens of staff members each.
The Guard has followed suit after numerous former workers of the esports organization announced that they were terminated from their positions with the company. Many of the workers who were let go were members of the company’s creative and production teams. These teams are typically in charge of the work that occurs behind the scenes and is not visible to customers. It is unknown at this time whether the layoffs will affect their teams.
Surprisingly, the Guard has let go of thousands of staff members
The Guard is represented in esports by a Valorant team competing in the North American Challengers and by an Apex Legends roster recently competing in and ending 17th in the ALGS Split 1 Playoffs. Also, this corporation owns the Los Angeles Gladiators of the Overwatch League and the Los Angeles Guerrillas of the Call of Duty League.
The round of layoffs included The Guard producer Hunter as one of the victims. He announced on his Twitter account that the organization had just terminated its content, social, talent, and creative departments. He even posted a selfie with the whole team immediately before informing them of the news.
Carlie Kay, an apparel designer, was among the first people to announce that The Guard would let go of many crew members. She tweeted the news, stating that “as of today, everyone’s position at The Guard has been removed.”
The organization was observed to be actively recruiting new members up until very recently; on February 12, Mavriq announced that he would be joining The Guard as a short-form producer; nevertheless, he was let go in the most recent round of layoffs. Ariel Ben-Abraham, who had relocated to the Los Angeles area specifically to work for the organization, was also terminated.
Because the organization is supported by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, one of the world’s top sports corporations, the layoffs have caught everyone in the esports sector off Guard. The Guard has not yet provided an official statement regarding the layoffs, but we will keep you updated on this page with any developments in the coming hours.
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