ESports organizations Virtus.pro, Gambit esports, forZe and Hellraisers wrote an open letter to the holding Winstrike team. In their appeal, the clubs noted that Winstrike violated the terms of a number of contracts and regularly delayed payments on them. Cybersport.ru publishes the full text of the letter. We requested a comment from Winstrike.
An open letter from eSports organizations
forZe eSports, Virtus.pro, Gambit Esports and HellRaisers
On behalf of forZe eSports, Virtus.pro, Gambit Esports and HellRaisers – leading CIS teams and well-known tags in the e-sports world – we want to inform the e-sports community about fraudulent activities of Winstrike Holding. All the undersigned organizations had experience doing business with this company, they all have one thing in common – the unprofessionalism of Winstrike, which in one way or another violated contractual, financial and sports obligations to teams and players. Including CEO Winstrike Yaroslav Komkov, who regularly made promises to the management of organizations and also regularly transferred the promised payment of arrears.
Forze eSports
In November 2019, Winstrike sent a request forZe eSports to purchase one of the rosters. Upon completion of a long period for the coordination of parts, a contract was signed on January 20, 2023. In accordance with this contract, the deadline for payment by Winstrike was February 21, after which a penalty entered into force. After February 21, Winstrike Sports Director spoke about the reorganization in the company and asked to reduce the amount of the contract by 50%. ForZe management agreed to the deal on the condition that payment be received by the end of February. After the negotiations were completed, Winstrike representatives stopped responding to forZe requests. In late March, the club sent Winstrike an official complaint – if its conditions are not met, forZe will sue.
Virtus.pro
Virtus.pro and Winstrike agreed to transfer the player from VP for Dota 2 to Winstrike on October 23, 2019. Payment from Winstrike was due in a month. Financial obligations to VP were fulfilled only six months later, while the player still has not received his interest according to the terms of the buyback.
Gambit esports
In the second half of 2019, Gambit Esports agreed to sell two Dota 2 rosters to Winstrike. The documents were quickly signed and players soon started playing under the Winstrike tag. In accordance with the agreement, Winstrike was supposed to pay a commission for the transition to December 23, 2019, but, despite numerous reminders, it did not. Gambit found this a misunderstanding and did not intend to sue Winstrike, but now the club’s position has changed. This was influenced by information from other respected organizations from the CIS, which also encountered Winstrike’s lack of professionalism.
Hellraisers
In November 2019, the e-sports organization HellRaisers entered into a deal with Winstrike to sell Ilya ALOHADANCE Korobkin’s contract. The payment deadline was set at the end of November – such a deadline was set during the negotiations between the two clubs. Despite this, from December 2019 to March 2023, Winstrike Holding postponed the payment weekly, and then stopped responding to HellRaisers messages. In early March, the payment was made, but excluding penalties for the sale agreement. The penalty for the transfer of payment has not yet been paid in full.
ForZe eSports, Virtus.pro, Gambit Esports and HellRaisers hope that the attention of the e-sports community, as well as legal measures taken, will contribute to Winstrike’s willingness to fulfill its obligations, to play an honest and responsible game in the e-sports market – of course, if this organization is interested in the continuation of his e-sports business.
Until recently, we did not want to bring the situation to the public. But the behavior of Winstrike management does not leave us hope for a peaceful settlement of the issue.
