Ninjas In Pyjamas In Dispute With Current And Former Players Over Unpaid Sticker Money

Esports organization Ninjas in Pyjamas (NiP) is being accused of stiffing current and former CS:GO players of sticker money from the ESL One: Rio Major 2020, which was cancelled due to COVID-19. The controversy stems from the fact that the event was cancelled after the in-game capsules had already been on sale, and the players are claiming that “they have a contractual right to the earning,” which has yet to be paid.

Players allege that the total amount in unpaid dues ranges from $200,000-$300,000, and that they are willing to take legal action if the organization doesn’t make this right by them.

This one will probably end up in the courts given the recent response to the controversy from NiP COO, Jonas Gunderson.

“These were ‘Capsules’ created by the teams, and Ok’d by Valve, in order to survive the pandemic and keep paying salaries without any cuts, despite the complete lack of sponsorships and exposure,” wrote Gunderson. “Therefore it’s not stickers as it would be normally – because there was no major. This was a desperation move for many teams because elseway something like half would have pulled out of CS:GO altogether.”

This is not NiP’s first disagreement with players on the matter of stickers. In 2015, the organization was accused of withholding $340,000 in sticker sales and prize money to its players, which resulted in the termination of CEO Per Lilliefelth.

(All information was provided by Dot Esports)