Zombs says Sentinels only received half of Valorant Champions US$20,000 winnings
Zombs says he only got US$1,000.
Former Sentinels controller pro playerJared “Zombs” Gitlinshared in his most recentTwitch streamthat his team only received half of their US$20,000 prize money for placing 9th-12th at last year’sValorant Championstournament.
After beingbenched by Sentinels, Zombs disclosed this information during aVCT NA Stage 2 Challengers qualifierswatch party with former teammateJay “Sinatraa” Won.
He explained that Riot Games used some of the prize pool from Valorant Champions 2021 to pay for add-on expenses of their tournament.
Zombs says Riot Games only gave Sentinels half their Valorant Champions 2021 prize money
North American powerhouse squadSentinelswere favorites to win last year’s Valorant world championship. However, the team failed to make it into the playoffs. They first lost toTeam Liquidin the second group stage match, and were upset and eliminated byKRU Esportsin the Group B decider, finishing in 9th-12th place.
In total, Sentinels won US$20,000 atValorant Champions 2021, but according to Zombs, the team did not receive their prize money in full because Riot Games used some of the funds from the prize pool to play for COVID-19 tests and additional costs incurred during the tournament.
“We got $20,000,” he shared. “That’s US$4,000 a player, and the organization takes a percentage, which isn’t that big, but my payout for that was just US$1,000.”
At Valorant Champions 2021, safety protocols in place saw pro players take COVID-19 tests daily.Team Liquid’s Nabil “Nivera” BenrlitomandOpTic Gaming’s Victor “Victor” Wongfor example, both tested positive, which forced their teams to compete off stage.
Nivera and Victor played from isolated rooms, while their teammates and their opponents competed from the event’s quarantine facilities, which could have further added to Riot Games’ operational costs.
“We got thousands of dollars less because they took money out of the prize pool to support their COVID-19 tests and random costs of their tournament,” the former Sentinels player shared. “They took a bunch of fees for no reason.”
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