The Guard Reportedly Lays Off Nearly Their Entire Staff
News broke Wednesday evening that The Guard is laying off a large portion of their staff, leaving many wondering what the future looks like for their Esports teams. The Guard, who is with Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, a company that holds stakes in numerous sporting teams and could be shifting away from esports.
Most of the employees that were let go were part of their creative and production teams. None of the players on their esports teams were let go, though it does leave much to be questioned about what the future holds for them. Holding teams in VALORANT, Halo, Apex Legends, and the umbrella organization for the LA Guerrillas in the Call of Duty League, many more could be affected as future details break.
There have been many changes throughout the esports world this year, with 10,000 employees leaving Microsoft-owned studios and with 100 Thieves and OpTic laying off a large portion of their staff, it leaves an eery feeling for current esports team employees.
With the mass layoffs that have occurred, it leaves many talented people without jobs, some of which just started with the company.
Beyond just the immediate ramifications of jobs lost, it's yet another data point in the ongoing debate about whether or not esports is dying. On one hand, we've seen massive layoffs across the industry. Every section of the business has been hit, from content creators, to athletic talent, to administration and staff.
On the other, in the eyes of many, this has been a long time coming. With the rapid expansion of the esports space over the prior decade, some believed it was only a matter of time before the bubble burst and brought things back down to a more reasonable level.
So which are we seeing? The beginning of the end or sanity being restored? Or beyond that, is this perhaps just a momentary gulley in the space? Only time will tell.
This is a developing story, and we will update this as we get more details.
