An Apex Legends esports player said he was erroneously sent more than $100,000 in tournament money after playing just a few games in the Apex Legends Global Series earlier this year. After several other players reported issues with payment — including drastically decreased awards — tournament organizer ESL FACEIT Group is claiming responsibility for the gaffe.
“Due to a systems error, a number of players in recent Apex Legends Global Series competitions received incorrect prize payouts,” an ESL FACEIT representative told Polygon. “As the partner responsible for prize fulfillment, we’re working to quickly resolve this issue and ensure that all players receive the correct prize payouts.”
Apex Legends Global Series is developer Respawn Entertainment and publisher Electronic Arts’ official Apex Legends esports league that kicked off for the year in January. It’s split into different regions, which then leads into regional events and a championship round. Zeddo, the Apex Legends player who was paid out $100,000, participated in a few games with Native Gaming and was expecting a much smaller payout.
“I was just waiting to get paid for what I played, which was only a weekend with N8V,” Zeddo told Polygon over direct message. “Was streaming when I got that email notification congratulating me for ‘finishing first in split 1 pro league.’”
He told Polygon it was “shocking” and “a little scary” to have so much money dropped into his account. “I hope it doesn’t affect me and my taxes or something,” Zeddo said. “[It’s also] motivating. 100k is life-changing money and it got me thinking about what I would really do to change my life if it was actually mine.”
Chase “Shooby” Vasquez is one of a few other players who reported being incorrectly paid a lesser amount than expected: The team he played with, Elev8 Gaming, earned $11,000 for 16th place in the playoffs and $6,000 for sixth place in the North American event. Individually, this meant he earned $5,600 — but he was only paid $512. (Players appear to be paid out individually, and not as a team.) Tyler “Tyler” Wood, playing with Navi in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa division, was expecting a few thousand dollars for placing second; as a team, Navi expected to be awarded $15,000, but Wood said he received only $600. Another player from that division, who goes by Feuda online, posted a screenshot of his payout: £137,430.55, despite his team placing 11th, which would mean the team’s expected total would be $3,000. Meanwhile, Korean Apex Legends pro Lee “KaronPe” Min-hyuk, who won a total of $315,000 with his team Reject Winnity, was awarded just $475.85, according to a post on X.
Stephen “Reedz” Bailey, a Canadian player in the North American region, told Polygon he hasn’t been paid out yet at all; he’s expecting around $1,000 for coming in 12th in late March. An ESL FACEIT representative declined to share how many players were impacted due to “GDPR/privacy concerns.”
Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon to see payout problems in esports. No esport is safe: It’s happened to Fortnite players, Valorant players, Overwatch players, and plenty more. Pro players are used to waiting months for payouts. “I think the amount of winnings being sent to the wrong player(s) is the most surprising,” Zeddo said.
Update: This story has been updated to include an additional statement from an ESL FACEIT representative.
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