Noble Esports, an organization that fields teams in Apex Legends, Fortnite, Gears of War, and multiple other esports titles, appears to have suddenly folded after employees alleged they had not been paid.
Around 4:45pm CT, Noble’s partnerships manager, Dan “Dizbog” Goodman, tweeted that he was no longer contracted with the company. At the end of the farewell message, he specifically named Noble’s owner, Kyle McDougal, as a key reason for his departure.
“With all due respect you were warned, advised, and simply were uncomfortable to work with,” Goodman said. Goodman also claimed McDougal got Noble’s money wrapped up in NFTs and has failed to pay employees. Even rapper T-Pain, who was a part of the organization’s Nobility tournaments, was mentioned as one of Noble’s allegedly unpaid contractors.
Shortly after Goodman’s tweet, a tweet appeared on Noble Esports’ account: “Hello Noble fans. This is the social media team. We will not be working until we ALL receive the payment that was promised in our contracts.” A few hours later, the esports organization’s Twitter account was deactivated. Its website still remains.
Nobility Token, a cryptocurrency venture backed by Noble Esports, is still up and running. The venture has its own app and NFT marketplace and is likely the organization Goodman was referring to in his farewell message. Other employees, like artist Jesus Villa, referred to NFTs as the downfall of the organization.
After the company deactivated its Twitter, multiple employees and Noble staff, such as Gears of War player Brandon “Toti” Insfran, have claimed on social media that McDougal is no longer responding to messages about money owed. Content director Alice Chen alleged in a Twitlonger post that she is missing “a month of salary” and all of her work samples.
Higher-level members of Noble Esports, like its CEO Cory “Fenix” Carruth, have posted or retweeted messages that they are seeking new employment.
Update Feb. 7, 11:36pm: Noble Esports owner Kyle McDougal has posted a statement to the organization’s previously-deleted Twitter account, blaming late payments on bank issues.
