Esports Winter RAGES ON | A storm of stickers and Saudis - The Four Horsemen S3E3 (ft Tomi)

We check in with Tomi "Lurppis" Kovanen on the status of "esports winter" as we head into the second year of budget cuts, layoffs, lack of sponsorship interest, and more. The Horsemen discuss the changes in the landscape, particularly the money flowing in from the Saudi government through ESL FACEIT Group and the surprising sticker returns from the Paris Major in Counter-Strike. They touch on the reinvention of Overwatch Esports, the struggles from the professional teams, and how the dissolution of the partnered leagues in Counter-Strike will upend the current order.

Tomi's article on monetization in CS: https://tomik.substack.com/p/transfor...

Thank you to INTOTHEAM for sponsoring this week's episode! You must use our link to receive 10% discount on anything you purchase on the website: https://www.intotheam.com/lfn

The Four Horsemen is the premier esports industry show that reacts to important news and critical conversations across all major titles. Esports veterans Duncan "Thorin" Shields, Richard Lewis, and Christopher "MonteCristo" Mykles use their decades of experience to shed light and debate on key esports topics as they emerge. Each episode they are joined by an expert guest to help further provide insider information on the topic at hand.

This episode was filmed on March 2nd, 2024.

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Come join the Insight on Esports Discord for in-depth discussion across esports:   / discord  

0:00:00 - Intro
0:07:28 - ESLFACEIT layoffs + partner leagues in CS2
0:36:46 - The future of CS2 competition
1:11:49 - Closing thoughts on esports winter in CS2
1:30:57 - Last Free Nation Culture
1:36:25 - Overwatch esports + Saudi involvement in esports
2:05:17 - Sponsorships in esports
2:28:54 - Status of esports teams + VALORANT esports
2:40:08 - Revisiting the 2017 Morgan Stanley report of the Overwatch League
2:58:25 - Final thoughts

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#esports
#esportspodcast