On October 11, Bleed Esports' Counter-Strike 2 team released an announcement on Aleksandar "Kassad" Trifunovic's personal X account unveiling an alleged situation of delayed and unpaid salaries that could have also affected other divisions inside the organization.
Following Bleed Esports' statement to answer Kassad's post, the coach detailed the alleged sums owed to the Counter-Strike 2 roster alongside the alleged sums owed to other teams for unpaid player transfers.
Less than 24 hours after the Serbian's post navigating through the alleged figures owed by the Singaporean organization, Bleed Esports' Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege player Taylor "Terdsta" Cheng explained on his personal X account his alleged personal experience with the team from the Red Dot.
The Kiwi left New Zealand to join his teammates in Singapore after turning eighteen on a monthly salary of less than US$700. To add some context, while Singapore doesn't have a minimum wage, a single person's estimated monthly costs are US$1,500 without rent.
Despite the player's situation, Terdsta became one of the best players in the region and the world in his position. Since the start of the 2023 season, Bleed Esports' players have only lost four of 38 matches in Asia's top flight. Such consistency resulted in the team qualifying for two BLAST R6 Majors, the Six Invitational 2024, and the Esports World Cup. Later this year, the team could mathematically qualify for the Six Invitational 2025 if the right results happen.
In total, Bleed Esports' Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege division has won approximately US$300,000 in prize pool money only. If the team qualifies for the Six Invitational 2025, the roster will get an extra US$35,000 — based on how the prize pool was spread at the Six Invitational 2024.
"We quickly became BLEED’s most successful roster across all esports, qualifying to multiple international events, raking in all the prize money that we literally had to earn to survive," Terdsta explained in his post on X.
According to the player's statement, Bleed Esports allegedly owes him "$35000 USD+" and relies on streaming to sustain himself. "I live abroad throughout the year, and without streaming I would literally not be able buy food for myself."
The 19-year-old also revealed that this is not a new issue for both himself and his teammates.
"This is not a new issue, it’s plagued us since we joined this organisation and we were constantly met with the same ChatGPT replies and false promises by BLEED’s upper management. Recently, after BLEED was kicked out of the VCT, and we failed to qualify for Montreal, the CEO Mervyn completely disappeared."
After missing out on the BLAST R6 Major Montreal, Bleed Esports' roster is currently leading a three-way tie in tenth place at the Six Invitational 2025 Global Standings alongside PSG Talon and Gaimin Gladiators. While the team's qualification for the Six Invitational 2025 hasn't been secured yet, it's likely the Asian roster makes the cut. Even if that were the case, Ubisoft could stop them from competing in February as they would need to be represented by an organization capable of supporting the roster.
Inevitably, Bleed Esports' current situation brings MNM Gaming's alleged debt to players and staff of over £200,000 to everyone's mind. Unfortunately, the coach of MNM Gaming back then was Julio "Julio" Giacomelli, who's the current coach of Bleed Esports.
We will update this article with more information as the situation between Bleed Esports and its Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege squad evolves.