NetherRealm, Bandai Namco Quit WePlay

In two separate but simultaneous announcements, both NetherRealm and Bandai Namco have stated that they are cutting all ties with WePlay eSports. Both public announcements for the two companies were almost identical: the [studio] is striving to deliver eSports tournaments to the community, and due to differences in vision their games will no longer be featured at WePlay events. It is possible the same public relations company was used, or maybe NetherRealm and Bandai Namco openly communicated with each other.

 

WePlay eSports had been a big source for tournaments for Soul Calibur 6, Tekken 7, and Mortal Kombat 11. The company had gained notoriety for having large weekly prize pools, up to 50,000 USD to champions. However, there are recent rumors that WePlay is connected to gambling company 1xbit. It is possible that both NetherRealm and Bandai Namco took these rumors seriously and don’t want their games associated with real money gambling. In older tournaments, third party gambling has led to organizers manipulating seeding placement and players throwing matches.

Kurtis Seid, NoobFeed
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