Tournament Organizer FISSURE allegedly owes Dota 2 teams over $1,000,000 in unpaid prize money

Source: Gabe News Telegram

How teams being treated behind the scene?!

According to information obtained by Gabe News from multiple organizations and industry sources, tournament organizer FISSURE currently owes more than $1,000,000 in unpaid prize money to Dota 2 teams.

The alleged unpaid payments date back to FISSURE PLAYGROUND #1 (January 2025) and reportedly include several events held throughout 2025. FISSURE organized multiple Tier 1 tournaments during that period, including FISSURE PLAYGROUND 1, FISSURE Special, and several FISSURE Universe events, with advertised prize pools ranging from $70,000 to $1,000,000.

According to sources familiar with the situation, organizations affected include some of the biggest names in professional Dota 2, such as:
Team Falcons
Team Yandex
MOUZ
BB Team
HEROIC
Tundra Esports
and several other organizations.

Teams allegedly pressured to continue playing
Several sources claim that teams have been told they should continue participating in future FISSURE events if they want to eventually receive outstanding payments.

According to one source:

Another organization described the situation as:

New tournaments despite outstanding debts:

Despite the reported unpaid obligations, FISSURE is said to be planning additional online and LAN tournaments with $100,000–$1,000,000 prize pools both before and after The International.

Questions That Need Answers

If true, this raises serious questions:

• Why are new tournaments being organized while previous prize money allegedly remains unpaid?
• Why are professional teams still accepting invitations under these circumstances?
• Should tournament organizers be required to settle outstanding obligations before launching additional events?
• Should Valve introduce stronger financial oversight for third-party tournament organizers participating in the Dota 2 ecosystem?

The competitive Dota ecosystem relies on trust between organizers and teams. If a tournament organizer is allegedly carrying over $1 million in unpaid obligations while continuing to launch new events, it is an issue that affects the entire scene—not just the teams involved.