{"id":3807,"date":"2020-04-02T23:00:14","date_gmt":"2020-04-02T23:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ginx.tv\/owners-of-toronto-defiant-and-toronto-ultra-announce-layoffs"},"modified":"2024-07-19T23:51:08","modified_gmt":"2024-07-19T23:51:08","slug":"owners-of-toronto-defiant-and-toronto-ultra-announce-layoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ginx.tv\/en\/overwatch\/owners-of-toronto-defiant-and-toronto-ultra-announce-layoffs","title":{"rendered":"Owners of Toronto Defiant and Toronto Ultra announce layoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Layoffs in the esports industry have been just one sad part of the coronavirus crisis halting major LAN events for the past month and into the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n<p>The latest instance is that of OverActive Media, with a reported 13 employees being laid off according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/esports\/story\/_\/id\/28983164\/overactive-media-owner-ultra-defiant-announce-layoffs\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">ESPN<\/a>. On 25th March, the senior vice president of OverActive, Marty Strenczewilk, decided to step down.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div data-oembed-url=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Lazerchickenzzz\/status\/1242950794133069826\">\n<blockquote align=\"center\" class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Some personal news:<\/p>\n<p>After months of conversations with my family, I&#8217;ve decided that I&#8217;m ready for a new challenge.<\/p>\n<p>Co-founding Splyce 6 years ago and then working with the smart, talented folks at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/OverActiveMedia?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@OverActiveMedia<\/a> after we were acquired has been an incredible adventure.<\/p>\n<p>1\/<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Marty (@Lazerchickenzzz) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Lazerchickenzzz\/status\/1242950794133069826?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 25, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"><\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Owners of Overwatch League&#8217;s Toronto Defiant, Call of Duty League&#8217;s Toronto Ultra, and League of Legends Europan Championship side MAD Lions made a statement to The Esports Observer regarding the layoffs.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This has been a tough day. We&#8217;ve had to make some very difficult decisions, affecting very good people, in order to ensure our organization is well-positioned to continue to thrive in these challenging times. It is always hard to see friends and teammates move on. It is perhaps even harder under these circumstances.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Other cases of people losing their jobs in esports due to the ongoing pandemic are members of the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ginx.tv\/en\/overwatch\/la-valiant-release-coaching-staff-due-to-economic-pressure\">Los Angeles Valiant coaching staff<\/a>, as well as Team Reciprocity dropping both their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ginx.tv\/en\/rainbow-six-siege\/team-reciprocity-rainbow-six-siege-rocket-league-roster-looking-for-new-home-due-to-downsizing\">Rainbow Six Siege and Rocket League rosters<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Layoffs in the esports industry have been just one sad part of the coronavirus crisis halting major LAN events for the past month and into&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1973,"featured_media":3808,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-overwatch","genre-fps","content_type-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.9 - 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