A Professional Korean Overwatch Team is now being accused of explicitly blackmailing and maltreatment of its players. Check out the hottest issue in today's competitive eSports and how hard it can be just to maintain the status of being "pro" in the league.
Overwatch Korean Team: Mighty Storm accused of maltreatment of its players
The organization Mighty Storm is now being accused by some of its players for outright blackmailing and maltreatment from the management. According to Jun-Hyung Kang, the incident started when the player expressed his intention to leave the team. This is when the management allegedly threatened the player and said: "If you quit now, you will be breaking our contract and per KeSPA rules, you will not be able to play Overwatch professionally ever again. We'll make sure your career turns to X."
After the alleged threatening, Jun-Hyung Kang, together with his colleagues approached Daily eSports, a Korean eSports publication and expressed their concerns over the organization. Here are several of the accusations that the players made over their management:
Contract - The players accused the management of unpaid salaries which that they have won from various events. According to their contract, the split profit was 70:30 in favor of the players but until today, the sum of the profits that the team has accumulated throughout the past months were left unpaid.
Schedule - Another big accusation that the players charged their management is the brutal practice regimen that the players were forced into. According to them, the training starts 12 pm and ends at 4-5 am with only two meals throughout the day.
Accommodation - According to the players, the management forced 10 members to sleep in a single room while the remaining 4 slept in the living. They said that the training house isn't capable of holding all 16 individuals (including staff and coach which were stay-out).
Maltreatment - : OGN APEX
Mighty Storm issued a counter statement regarding the allegations saying that the players were lying about the entire report. They even stressed out how they value professionalism and work ethics during the entire duration of the players' contract. According to the organization, they treated all of their players exceptionally well and that they were saddened about the players' deceitful and ungrateful nature.
