Team SoloMid, once one of the most famous League of Legends teams in the world, has experienced a dramatic decline. From an estimated value of over $500 million in 2022, the organization has now shrunk to just eight employees, raising questions about its future and the reasons for its decline.
This is TSM: Team SoloMid (TSM for short) was once one of the most famous professional “League of Legends” teams in the world and has a remarkable history.
This ranges from participation in the game’s first seven World Cups to being rated as the most valuable club in the world in 2022 by Forbes magazine. However, today the organization is facing a drastic decline and consists of only eight employees.
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Employee dismissed without notice on its fifth anniversary
What has been the latest development at TSM? Recently, there was an unexpected layoff at TSM when long-time employee Dunc had to leave the e-sports organization on his fifth anniversary as an employee.
Dunc then expressed his displeasure on
Here you can see Dunc’s post on X.com:
There have been increased layoffs at TSM in the past and the club was even investigated and punished by Riot Games in 2022 for poor treatment of its employees.
Last year, TSM also closed almost all of its esports divisions, including Valorant and League of Legends, and sold its spot in the LCS. However, TSM is still present in some games like Rocket League and Apex Legends, albeit with a smaller audience.
Deal led to financial problems
How did TSM go downhill? TSM’s current situation is a consequence of the $210 million deal with the FTX exchange that TSM completed in 2021, but was not executed due to the arrest and conviction of the site’s founder. Subsequently, significant financial problems arose for the organization.
In 2022 there was also a scandal involving LoL coach Peter Zhang, who diverted around $250,000 in salary payments from two previous TSM games to himself and others and then had to leave TSM.
In addition, the organization’s poor sporting performance between 2018 and 2022, where it only managed to qualify for the World Cup once, as well as the general crisis of Western esports last year, added to the difficulties.
What’s next for TSM? The future of Team SoloMid remains uncertain as the brand has lost significant value as a result of a series of erratic decisions.
Although the founders’ goal in the past was to make the LCS a stronger league again, it currently seems unlikely that they can even continue to secure a place in major competitions in games like Rocket League. They have already sold their place in LoL and are no longer appearing in Valorant championships.
It’s not just at TSM that employees are struggling with layoffs, LoL developer Riot Games also recently announced that it would be parting ways with 530 employees: LoL developer Riot is laying off 530 employees and wants to concentrate on the 4 biggest games – these are the effects