Month: August 2015

After we were able to confirm the dissolution of Zeveron earlier this week, new details have come to light courtesy of Red Bull eSports concerning the competitive gaming organization’s troubles behind the scenes as well as the future of Ryota “Kazunoko” Inoue’s sponsorship. Much of the information included in their report was also shared with Shoryuken by the parties involved, but we chose to hold off at the time due to assumptions it would harm Kazunoko’s well-being in the proceedings.

Speaking with Red Bull, former Zeveron CEO Jeff Suddarth revealed that the choice to dissolve the company came from chairman and majority owner Tyler Liberman, who consistently failed to make payment deadlines. “I made sure our contracts protected players in case he tried to back out of it,” Suddarth explained. “What our contracts say if they aren’t paid a certain amount, they get a minimum at least.”

During our own discussions with Suddarth, it became abundantly clear that Kazunoko had received absolutely zero financial support from Zeveron during his short tenure with the company, due in part to his PayPal account failing to receive overseas payments (an excuse not backed up by PayPal themselves, strangely enough) but mostly because the funds just weren’t there. An investment by Liberman himself was expected to provide payments at the beginning of August, but this too did not materialize.

But there may still be a future for Zeveron. Suddarth is currently in talks to maintain ownership of the company and is working with Kazunoko’s managers at GODSGARDEN to keep the Japanese player on board, a statement backed up by Kazunoko himself. “I worked out a deal with God’s Garden [sic] to come up with what he’s owed for the end of the month,” Suddarth told Red Bull. “If I do, we’ll continue to work together on Zeveron and we’ll bring it under me, 100 percent ownership.”

If Suddarth is unable to secure the money due Kazunoko by the end of August, he will once again become a free agent, which could deal another serious blow to the already damaged Zeveron brand. “If Kazunoko gets what he was promised and he’s happy with us. That’s the most important thing,” Suddarth said. “I think that’s the only thing that will make Zeveron stay intact.”

While Suddarth is openly apologetic for the way things have turned out, let’s hope his interest in Kazunoko extends past seeing the competitor as a way to keep the failing business afloat.

For more, be sure to check out Red Bull’s full report.