American Valorant team Phoenix1 has been accused of stealing prize money from its former players. Up to an alleged $1300 was reportedly stolen from each player. Allegations first came to light in a TwitLonger posted by Aiden “King” King.
In the post, King alleged that Phoenix1 had not paid him and other players prize money from the Super League Arena tournaments and Knights Gauntlet events. King states that the organization requested money be paid directly to the team, rather than the players. The money was then never distributed to the players.
In his TwitLonger, King went into detail about the steps he’s taken to recover the money. “After a few attempts at messaging a few members of the organization about my situation it seems no conclusion is being reached and I am still without my money as of now, if this changes I will post an update. I wanted to make this statement to bring to light the situation I have experienced. ”
King also shared screenshots from a discord conversation which detailed the fact that Phoenix1 was ceasing operations. Prior to this post all members of the team, some of whom have since alleged various levels of prize money theft, have departed the team.
Further Allegations
After King’s post, another former Phoenix1 player came forward with allegations. Jadin “Menace” Wagner also alleged that up to $1300 had been “scammed” from himself and “all of” his teammates.
Phoenix1 dropped all of it’s players at the end of January. The announcement stated that the majority of the team had “bought out of their contracts.” It’s unclear whether this is linked to any kind of payments they have or haven’t received.
Confusingly, Phoenix1 is also an organization name which another American esports organization, Sentinels, used prior to rebranding. The two orgs reportedly have no relation. The allegations have stained the otherwise thriving NA Valorant scene.
Phoenix1 today issued a response to the allegations in a follow-up Tweet. “To clarify, the org has paid all players according to their contracts.”
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