Guild Esports records £4.96m loss, significantly reduces staff numbers

British esports organisation Guild Esports has announced a £4.96m loss for the six-month period ending on March 31 2022.

The company shared that it has reduced its staff from 45 to 30. Moreover, David Gardner has stepped down as a non-executive director.

The results, which are from Guild’s latest unaudited financial report, also show an increase in gross profit and revenue.

The loss has increased from the same period last year, with the company reporting £4.28m in losses in 2021. There has been an increase in gross profit when compared with the same period last year — £710,000 in 2022 compared to £110,000 in 2021. Total net cash reserves for the company amount to £6.1m.

The company explained that investments in teams and staff, as well as content creation and its academy, are the main reasons for the increase in loss. Guild also noted that this is the first time period in which the money from the Bitstamp deal has arrived into its account.

Guild announced that due to ‘global economic uncertainty’ and ‘challenging capital market conditions’, the company made several moves to streamline costs. This involves reducing its number of staff members. Guild believes it can reduce its cost base by around 20% for the second half of 2022.

Immediately following the announcement that Guild has reduced its staff numbers, personnel that have left the organisation have voiced their dissatisfaction over the terminology used.

Via Twitter, Guild Esports’ Former Director of Esports Grant Rousseau stated that he departed the company on purpose and was not ‘cost-cut’. The same was said by George Hughes, former Esports Manager for the company, as well as Video Editor Jakub Klajn. The former employees all highlighted their frustration while at the organisation as a reason why they left.

Within the financial report, the company also announced that ‘several potential deals’ are under discussion with brands from ‘many different sectors’. This includes including beverage, media, electronics and other brands. As of right now, the partnership with Bitstamp is the most lucrative one Guild has.

Guild Esports, an organisation famously backed by David Beckham, is having a bittersweet 2022. The company signed a sizeable partnership with blockchain company Bitstamp, but that came after another fintech partnership was terminated in 2021. The company signed a lease for new HQ and Academy, but also recorded losses and has made changes to top leadership.