So That Was 2024...
Another year is in the books where this publication accepted its role as Canute... The efforts to stem the tide are futile but it's important to show others you have to be willing to get your feet wet
Another year of work is in the books and right up front let me thank you all for your contribution in supporting my continued efforts covering the big stories in sports, esports and politics. For context we maintained our bestseller status on Substack and went past 1500 paying subscribers, with over 12,000 non-paying subscribers signed up to the newsletter.
The podcast about US politics, Belly of The Beast, overtook the Esports Gospel in listeners. We produced thirty episodes across the election year breaking down the big stories in the media. We also reviewed the batshit insane Republican primaries in both text and video formats. All told this was some of the most popular content on the platform this year, overtaking The Esports Gospel and most esports coverage articles, particularly in the second half of the year. In 2025 we will be expanding Belly Of The Beast and will aim to double the number of episodes to represent better value to those of you who have subscribed especially for that.
In terms of reporting the year started with us thick in what was being dubbed “The Esports Winter,” a mass unemployment event framed as a tragedy when in fact it was a direct result of organisational incompetence.
We were not entirely without sympathy however and told the stories that needed to be told to a wider audience. Our focus was on Riot Games and their handling of layoffs at the LEC, an environment where employees were often working multiple jobs in terrible conditions, that raised questions about the inherent biases among Riot’s management team.
We also published Slack messages from the so-called “Rainbow Rioters” (the LGBT community spokespeople within the company) that outlined that working more with Saudi Arabia was a good thing.
On that note February also saw a detailed write-up about how the Saudi Arabian state was essentially using the Esports World Cup stipend program to pay organisations to have teams to enter into their competitions. These economics of dependency have naturally created a series of conflict of interests largely ignored by the wider esports world but the real test shall come next year when the commitment to Qiddiya will be called upon.
March saw us publish an ESL town hall announcing layoffs at the company. Employees were told not to think of them negatively but in terms of “transformation,” something that sounds like Buffalo Bill after returning from a corporate management seminar.
It was also the month we concluded our coverage of a player lawsuit against Evil Geniuses, one that would see the organisation walk away with the legal victory but its reputation in tatters. We shall miss thee Warren Buffet of esports.
May saw us covering how the Danish government had applied pressure to esports tournament operator PGL during their CS2 major event in the country’s capital of Copenhagen. The article broke down how not only did the government own a significant piece of rival tournament operator BLAST but also how the same minister calling for a ban on Russian competitors had introduced a Russian team at a BLAST event in the previous year.
We then moved on to exposing how Saudi owned ESL, having locked up the Dota 2 circuit in the absence of the DPC and a decrease in direct support from Valve, then pressured Dota broadcast talent to take paycuts.
June was an especially exciting month for the publication. The annual celebration of LGBT Pride was of course at odds with the business partnerships most of the esports industry have forged with the Saudi Arabian state. We covered this extensively over the first half of the year and then brought things into sharp focus with “Operation Pride Before A Fall.”
The premise of that project was to contact the dozens of sponsors affiliated with these organisations and ask how their values, which often espoused the virtues of diversity and equality, aligned with their brand now being used in a Saudi Arabian sportswashing exercise. A handful replied, even fewer acted, but the message was certainly received. Several representatives from various esports organisations expressed their disappointment in me for going after their bottom line. One even went to great lengths to explain to me how progressive Saudi Arabia actually was because… Say the line… “They drive now.”
In reality Saudi is not becoming more progressive. The state executed 330 people in 2024, the highest number in decades, with almost half that number representing people who engaged in non-lethal crimes. Many others were killed under vague terrorist laws for protesting the restrictive nature of their government or were branded as living “deviant” lifestyles not fit for Saudi society. I’ll let you determine what that might be referring to.
This wasn’t the most embarrassing thing that happened in the scramble to justify paying lip service to the LGBT community while simultaneously pocketing millions from a government that criminalises, persecutes and executes those people… For instance did you ever think you’d see someone come out for Saudi? Me neither but esports is an especially weird place whenever there’s money up for grabs and 2024 was certainly no exception.
In July we published proof that Esports World Cup attendees in Riyadh were expressly told to avoid any criticism of the Saudi Arabian government and to even avoid wearing clothing with “bright hues” in public. Then in August we ventured back into the world of Counter-Strike match-fixing exposing the lengths that one imaginary organisation would go to and how they ended up becoming blacklisted by most sportsbooks and oddsmakers. 2025 will kick off in similar vein when we publish the blacklists themselves.
September had us focused on one of our favourite esports organisations as Astralis once again tried to leverage their influence with tournament operators to ignore rules to suit themselves. This publication revealed that their conduct around a substitution request to enable them to field their new in-game leader would be triggering an ESIC investigation, one that would go on to see them fined $10,000.
The end of the year saw us covering the issues surrounding Twitch’s selective moderation policies, ones which had seen an increase in anti-Semitic rhetoric based on Israel’s response to the October 7th attacks. The resulting media attention saw advertisers start to withdraw their marketing campaigns from the platform, something we revealed that would then later be confirmed by Bloomberg reporting, despite Twitch’s denials this was happening.
All in all this was a solid year even if I did take off for a month to work another Counter-Strike Major esports event and pick up the latest variant of Covid in Espoo. I ceratinly hope the content represented value for your subscription and was the type of thing you’d like to see more off. Any feedback or ideas can be left in the comments below.
We will be kicking off 2025 with my annual review of the year in esports and then we go straight into handing out The Gonzo Awards, my antidote to all the unwarranted self-congratulatory masturbation that the end of the year brings so it will be a busy few weeks.
As always thanks for all your support and I wish you all a blessed year to come.
Richard
NGL, I came to know you by your investigative work, but your politics work is beyond amazing, informative and entertaining! Your FM stints are Crazy good, I don't give a flying fuck If people with no context find It troubling... You made me buy Crusader Kings from how much fun I had following you. I would just wish for every game stint to have an ending before moving to the next one.
Paraphrasing Stephanie Sterling:
We all should be reminded to Thank God for You
Happy New Year Rich!
Looking forward to seeing more of you in 2025!