One year since its closing, REPUBLEAGUE still owes its ex-employees over €30,000

Making tournaments in Counter-Strike’s Tier-2 pro scene is incredibly important despite the uncertainty of ever seeing profit in sports. From short-term contracts, dependency on betting, and remissness of players themselves, it’s no wonder that the usual life span of a TO gets shorter each passing year. 

Almost a year ago, another tournament operator REPUBLEAGUE suffocated without even a post on Twitter. As it turned out, the silence extended to the company's employees who were left unpaid approximately 30,000 euros. 

I managed to directly contact some former employees of the company, who clarified how REPUBLEAGUE withheld their money and their CEO stopped communicating. But let's start from the beginning.

Written by Editor-in-chief Taras Bortnik

What is REPUBLEAGUE?

To be frank, REPUBLEAGUE was the “ESL of tier-2 CS.” Great production and consistent content worked perfectly to deliver a top-notch tournament experience for both viewers and players.

• TACO: “I wanted to thank REPUBLEAGUE. Watched the game yesterday, and the production and xray are really nice.”
• GeT_RiGhT: “It’s a really clean HUD.”
• Semmler: “The production looked good, they had good graphics, good content, this is really nice to watch.”

Clearly, the idea behind REPUBLEAGUE was to create an entertaining product that would win its viewers not by the level of teams invited but by the quality of the content.

How many other TOs like that can you see among tier-2 CS?

What happened in September 2023?

REPUBLEAGUE closed. Just like that, without any posts on socials or messages to employees.

They didn’t even fulfill their partner obligations at the time. The last $50,000 tournament in the first CCT season in Central Europe was hurriedly done by Eden Esports, instead of the Slovakian TO.

Looking at their official Twitter, the last post is about 1WIN's victory in the CCT Central Europe Series 7.

We were kept in the dark, and instead of clear answers, there were only the same old promises.

 

Back in 2023, there were rumors behind the curtains that several REPUBLEAGUE employees weren’t paid. I didn’t think much of it, since a 2-3 month delay in payments is a usual but understandable (if not slightly annoying) occurrence within esports. But when I stumbled upon those rumors again in January 2024, it made me start asking questions.

Not everyone who worked in REPUBLEAGUE was interested in talking, still hoping to get their money. Although one person, asked to be anonymous, gave me a somewhat clear picture:

"There are people who did not get paid for more than eight months and some even a year, while still collaborating with the project — and still not getting paid. Because there was no one from management who said that REPUBLEAGUE had any issues. There were only promises that people would get paid 'next week,' giving false hope. It is awful behavior."

 

Later, I contacted an esports referee Janka "JanicKa" Vorčáková, who worked with REPUBLEAGUE from the very beginning. In fact, the company contacted her when they had only ideas about running tournaments, because of her experience. She even moved to the same city as RPBLG management, where Janicka lived for 2 years. She kindly agreed to go on the record for the article.

"We were never directly told that REPUBLEAGUE was ceasing its activities or planning to declare bankruptcy. There were no official statements on this matter. We were kept in the dark, and instead of clear answers, there were only the same old promises."

 

When we asked about the payment deadlines, Janicka recalled how they were constantly reassured that the problem was being solved and that the situation in esports was difficult. Promises were made regularly, but in reality, the deadlines were just postponed again and again, and actual payments never happened.

"I haven't been paid since May 2023. And as far as I know, my colleagues are in the same situation—neither casters, teams, nor even the company GRID have received payments, if the situation hasn't changed."

 

Most importantly, Janicka still has a signed contract with REPUBLEAGUE.

Yes, I have a signed contract, which, by the way, is still valid because it hasn't been terminated. But I no longer issue invoices, as it doesn't make sense. I no longer believe that this money will be paid, and I don't want to issue invoices for work that hasn't been done. So far, I have only issued invoices for the work I actually completed, and the total amount is €10,000.

 

In summary:

• No official notification of REPUBLEAGUE ceasing its activities.
• Payment delays since at least May 2023.
• Constant promises without real actions.
• Existing but unfulfilled contracts.
• The company has effectively ceased its operations.

The CEO’s response

After that conversation, on January 30, the only thing that was left to me was to contact the REPUBLEAGUE CEO himself, Marco Porázik. He quickly agreed to answer my questions.

I can confirm that some of our former employees have not been paid a portion of their wages, as our company found itself in an unexpected financial situation where we faced unpaid invoices from our partners.We are addressing the situation to this day, as we have not received full payment yet. One partner was supposed to cover part of the expenses for individual tournaments. After a certain period, we were forced to use our own funds for various items, but considering the volume and quality of our tournaments, it represents a significant portion of money that we couldn't secure ourselves. Therefore, we have decided to address the situation through external financing.Unfortunately, in the current times when not only the esports market but also the overall financial landscape is unstable, finding such funding proves to be quite challenging.In light of the aforementioned, we strive to approach the situation as responsibly as possible and allocate funds from private sources, other projects, and also seek a solution by using our own assets.Unfortunately, since third parties also influence the business, we cannot guarantee a specific timeframe. The majority of acquired resources are prioritized for settling expenses related to creditors, and the plan is to pay off creditors as quickly as possible.

 

I also asked a question regarding the future of REPUBLEAGUE and whether the project would be terminated. In response, Marco Porázik clarified that they have no intention of ending the REPUBLEAGUE project. They expressed pride in the quality of the projects they've brought to the esports scene, acknowledging that these successes were possible only due to the contributions of everyone involved.

How much does REPUBLEAGUE owe its ex-employees?

From my conversations with former employees, I discovered that the staff was owed around €30,000, while the company also owed €50,000 to a production studio. The production studio later reduced the amount to €10,000, so they at least received something from REPUBLEAGUE.

To finish the investigation, I needed to know the financial situation with REPUBLEAGUE. For that, I went to check ORSR.SK, Ministry of Justice website in the Slovak Republic and saw that the company filled their financial reports for 2023.

But those are the documents, what are the numbers? Surfing Google, I found FinStat, the data portal that aggregates registration, financial, and legal data on Slovak and Czech companies. Its data pictures the entire financial year for REPUBLEAGUE.General information:

This chart shows the profits of the company for each year of its existence:

Now, let’s assume that those numbers are strictly accurate, at least in the free trial version of the service, but one thing is clear as day. REPUBLEAGUE had a profit in 2023. How they managed to gain over 840,000 over a year is still a question for another day, but I dare to say that in business, you cut your losses to avoid bankruptcy. Unfortunately, in this case, those cuts were the former employees of REPUBLEAGUE.

Aftermath

Sadly it all makes sense. The whole story can be described by the graph above. What’s next, you ask? The story will have its continuation, that’s for sure. Janicka will be filing the lawsuit against the REPUBLEAGUE and hopefully will get what she is owed, as will everyone else.

From where I stand, Marco Porázik took advantage of esports enthusiasts who were ready to work for months just to stay in the industry they love. 

The story of REPUBLEAGUE is a wake-up call for esports businesses to rethink their budgeting and where their responsibility belongs. This situation is not just about the problems of one company, but about how neglecting obligations destroys trust in the industry. 

How many stories like this have to be broken before we lose more experts, investors, or potential partners who wouldn’t like to have anything to do with what may turn out as the next scam?