Former players of the esports organization BoostGate Esports have reported that they have yet to receive the majority of their salaries. This incident has become another testament to the deep crisis within Riot Games' Tier 2 tournament ecosystem, specifically in the Turkish League of Legends league.
Problems in the TCL escalated even before the start of the 2026 season and continued to worsen throughout the year. The league's ecosystem suffered significant losses due to the successive departure of several well-known organizations:
The situation with BoostGate gained public attention following a statement on X by Greek support player Spyridon "Centu" Pantelopoulos, who played for the team from April until the end of June. He reported that every member of the previous roster is still waiting for the payment of two-thirds of their agreed salary. According to the esports athlete, the players were patient for a long time and tried to resolve the issue privately, but repeatedly received only promises to pay "next week" in response.
Centu's statement was supported by Ahmet "Mean" Battal, who played as the AD Carry from January until the end of July. He confirmed the lack of payments and emphasized that they are not talking about exorbitant amounts. The player noted that a short-term delay could be understood, but brushing aside the problem for this long is unacceptable. Both esports athletes expressed deep disappointment with the current state of the industry, where participants in major leagues have to wonder whether they will receive their earned money.
This situation comes as no surprise for the Tier 2 scene, which continues to decline. Unpaid salaries have remained a systemic problem in European Regional Leagues for years, yet publisher Riot Games has still not fully acknowledged the severity of the problem and its impact on the real lives of the players.
At the time of publication, neither the management of the BoostGate organization nor representatives of the league itself have provided official comments regarding the esports athletes' statements.
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