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Olivia Richman is a seasoned esports journalist who has worked with Inven Global, Esports Illustrated, Esports.gg, and more. As an editor and writer at Esports Insider, she loves telling unique esports stories, especially within the FGC. When not working and gaming, Olivia loves collecting Kirby plush, eating sushi, and driving her cars at the track.
Image Credit: Tundra Esports Tundra Esports exiting Dota 2 this year was definitely not on our bingo cards. The roster has already won four trophies this season and remains a solid top-five team in the world, but Tundra still decided to sell its roster to 1win Team before the Esports World Cup and The International .
Naturally, this move sparked plenty of discussion within the Dota 2 community, leaving us with many questions surrounding player salaries, tournament prize pools, and more. Well, rather than speculating ourselves, let’s just hear directly from the man behind the decision.
Esports Insider was provided a full English-language interview with Tundra Esports founder Maxim Demin . Here, he discussed the reasons behind his big decision, the state of the esports ecosystem, and what comes next.
There aren’t that many organizations that can call themselves “legendary” in the Dota 2 space, but I’d argue Tundra Esports has definitely become one of them.
The London-based org entered the scene in early 2021, picking up a promising stack called mudgolems, which featured the likes of 33, skiter, and Nine. Five years later, the org bagged an Aegis and accumulated $14.8 million in tournament winnings.
Tundra has consistently been a Tier 1 team throughout the campaign and was even the most successful team this season if we’re counting trophies won. And despite all of this consistency and results, the org still pulled the plug and sold the roster to 1win.
Of course, the timing of when he sold the roster could leave your head scratching. The team qualified for two of the biggest events of the season – the Esports World Cup and The International.
So, if you’re wondering why Maxim didn’t see it through, here are the three reasons he stated:
He couldn’t share the exact details behind the deal, but he explained that it ended up being a win-win situation for all parties involved:
“Esports has never been purely about profit for me; it’s always been driven by passion and the ambition to build something successful.
“Most importantly, the deal allowed the roster to stay together and continue competing under a new organization. For the players, that provided stability, and for the fans, it meant they could continue supporting the same team they had followed throughout their journey.”
Maxim clarified he wasn’t “abandoning” the players. He put continuity and stability above all else. He made sure we can still watch 33 and his boys compete at the highest level, though they were forced to wear ski-masks on 1win’s roster teaser for some god-awful reason.
Though Maxim concluded that the roster sale ended on a positive note, he also touched on how running a Dota 2 team – especially a high-tier one like Tundra – has become increasingly difficult.
Pro player salaries have been a...