FISSURE's Nikolay Vesnin admits unpaid CS2 and Dota 2 prize money

FISSURE's chief executive Nikolay Vesnin has issued an open statement acknowledging unpaid prize money owed to Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2 teams, following months of mounting criticism from the competitive community, as reported by Esports.gg News.

In the statement, published on 4 November, Vesnin apologised publicly and took responsibility for the situation, which has left major organisations including G2 Esports, Team Falcons and FURIA waiting on prize payouts.

Vesnin said around 50% of the outstanding Counter-Strike prize debt has now been paid, with part of that funding coming from revenue generated at FISSURE Playground 3 in Suzhou, China. On the Dota 2 side, an initial round of payments began in October, and FISSURE is targeting the first quarter of 2027 for its next major repayment push and a public progress update.

Vesnin addressed a recurring criticism directly: why FISSURE continued launching new tournaments while still owing prize money from earlier ones. He explained that running further events is the only way the organisation can generate the revenue needed to pay back the teams it already owes.

Looking ahead, FISSURE said prize pools for future tournaments will be ring-fenced and fully secured before competition begins, rather than depending on revenue generated during the event itself. Vesnin also said the company is working to diversify its commercial partnerships beyond betting sponsors, which had been its dominant backers.

FISSURE's earlier Counter-Strike events, including the BetBoom Dacha series listed on Liquipedia, were closely tied to betting platforms. That changed with the launch of the Playground series in 2025, which offered prize pools above $1,000,000 for both CS2 and Dota 2.

The first two CS2 Playground events, held in July and September 2025, struggled to draw many tier-one teams despite the prize money on offer. Esports.gg News had initially put this down to scheduling clashes and teams prioritising circuit points such as the ESL Grand Slam, but says the financial picture now suggests other reasons were at play.

TYLOO won the first CS2 Playground event, beating Astralis in the grand final, while FURIA took the second title after defeating Astralis, Falcons and The MongolZ through the playoffs.

Dota 2's top teams did not avoid the Playground events in the same way. Tundra Esports won the first edition by beating Team Falcons in the grand final, and Team Falcons then took the second title, defeating BetBoom Team in the final.

FISSURE had scheduled further Dota 2 tournaments as far ahead as 2027, including a tier-two FISSURE Universe event planned for 2026 before that series was rebranded as PARI Universe. The Playground brand itself went quiet after its first year, with 2026 events cancelled, before resurfacing in September via a partnership that produced CS2 FISSURE Playground #3 in China.

FISSURE has committed to a further public update on its Dota 2 repayments in the first quarter of 2027, alongside the structural changes to prize pool funding it has promised for future events.