Nerd Street Gamers step in to pay Valorant talent ghosted by Pulse

Nerd Street Gamers, a North American esport infrastructure and tournament organizer, has stepped in to pay broadcast talent who were essentially ghosted by the management of Pulse Gaming after working on their Pulse Invitational back in September of last year.

According to commentator Alex "Vansilli" Nguyen, NSG has asked him to invoice the money owed by Pulse, extending this request to the rest of the talent that worked the event from the hosts to the observers.

I would love to give the biggest shoutout to @nerdstgamers.

They are asking me to invoice them for the money that @pulse_arena owes me to make sure i dont eat ramen noodles for the duration of my casting grind. My biggest and humblest thanks <3.

— Vansilli (@Vansilli) February 7, 2021

The Pulse Series tournament was the second tournament organized by Pulse Arena, boasting a $10,000 prize pool and that saw Mamba Mode Gaming take the number one spot, toppling Luminosity Gaming in the grand finals. 

(Image: Pulse Esports)

With the event taking place in September, payments were due this past 22nd October according to caster Dustin "dusT" Mouret in an interview given to Dot Esports in December.

On 2nd February, dusT gave fans an update on the situation via Twitter, stating that all of the broadcasting talent has yet to be paid, with the CEO of Pulse Esports, Dan Cybak, going MIA.

Ahem... clears throat...taps mic...@pulse_arena still hasn't paid ANYONE. It's been 4-5 past due months at this point.@biggestnuckfan won't even respond to emails or DMs at this point to try and resolve the issue.

No updates have been given since September.

Get it together

— dusT (@followdusT) February 2, 2021

"It's been 4-5 past due months at this point. @biggestnuckfan (Cybak) won't even respond to emails or DMs at this point to try and resolve the issue. No updates have been given since September," he mentioned.

While the casting and talent side of things have confirmed the payment issues, it seems teams are in the same boat. This past January, former Mamba Mode Gaming head coach TestyFPS mentioned that prize winnings from the Pulse Series event weren't paid yet, amidst other issues that plagued MMG as an organization, leading to its eventual downfall.

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NSG has built up its reputation in recent months as one of the premier esport tournament providers. Riot has entrusted them with production on the North American and they have garnered praise for their superior formats, seeding and co-streams.