According to sources within the organization, The Guard has laid off its entire staff.
Update: This article was originally published in 2023 and has been updated to showcase details following The Guard's apparent disolution.
LA esports organization, The Guard, reportedly laid off every single employee, according to sources within the company. Sources speaking to Esports.gg stated that every single person in the company had been laid off after an all-hands meeting. This was later confirmed in numerous Tweets from former employees.
According to The Guard’s (former) head of merchandise, every single employee — bosses, and bosses' bosses — were let go. This includes the content team, social team, talent relations, and creative teams.
The Guard formerly operated teams in VALORANT, Halo, and Apex Legends. Additionally, The Guard is the umbrella organization associated with the Los Angeles Guerrillas of the Call of Duty League, and the Los Angeles Gladiators of the Overwatch League, and both teams have been sold since the layoffs.
Employees were working up to the moment before the all-hands was called. The last posts on The Guard and Los Angeles Guerrillas' Twitter were made just hours before the news broke.
The Guard quits esports?
The Guard is, in effect, the esports arm of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE), a holding company that has stakes in numerous sports teams and entertainment outlets. These include the LA Rams, Arsenal FC, Colorado Rapids, and numerous stadium venues. The organization was founded by billionaire Stan Kroenke.
However, now it seems that KSE is shifting away from esports and divesting from the industry by heavily downsizing. The same can't be said for esports fans that the owner left behind, as many are starting to get in on extra action by using esports betting platforms and online casinos to try their hand at fate.
Looking for work: Former Guard employees
Immediately after the news struck, dozens of Guard employees took to Twitter to share their “looking for work” posts, a reminder of the human cost of layoffs. Currently, there are dozens of posts echoing a similar sentiment of shock and disappointment.
Many of these employees moved across the country to work for the company, and now find themselves looking for work in LA.
All of the affected employees were eventually listed by former Guard employee Hunter in the following thread:
Security at The Guard offices detain former employees
The news took an even more sinister turn as employees at The Guard's offices reported that Security were now allegedly laying hands on them. All while apparently just trying to back up files and collect personal effects.
Ariel Ben-Abraham tweeted that he'd moved just days before the layoffs. He now finds himself allegedly being detained by the company's security.
The esports industry reacts to the layoffs
With such a large and influential organization announcing layoffs, there was no shortage of criticism from the wider esports industry. Sentinels Twitter account pulled no punches with their reply:
"Unreal. f**k @TheGuard." The tweet seemed to dig at some deep beef between Sentinels and The Guard. in 2019, Sentinels co-founder, Robert Moore, sued KSE's esports arm (predating The Guard branding).
But even outside of this, there are a lot of people in the esports scene who had friends and colleagues at The Guard. The layoffs seem to have struck a chord with many.
What's happened to The Guard since the layoffs?
In the years following The Guard's very public layoffs, the organization seems to have been unofficially shut down. The Guard's official Twitter account hasn't posted since August 2023, and all of the organization's teams have either been dissolved or sold off.
For example, the LA Guerrillas in the Call of Duty League eventually sold their spot to Gentlemates in late 2024, a French organization started by popular streamer Gotaga. While the Guerrillas' branding half stuck around for the Black Ops 6 season, the name was completely removed for the Black Ops 7 season, with the team's name now the Paris Gentlemates.
All of the organization's other teams haven't posted anything since the layoffs, and nothing has been heard from any official representative of The Guard since 2023. While owner Stan Kroenke and his investment group seem to technically still own The Guard in some capacity, the organization likely doesn't have any real employees left.
Would The Guard ever come back?
It appears highly unlikely that The Guard would ever resurface again, given the current nature of esports. The Guard's layoffs weren't the first time an organization has folded up shop, and they certainly weren't the last since 2023.
However, with the trademarks seemingly still active and the organization not completely dead, there's always a small chance they could return in the future if the situation is right. Perhaps esports booms again in the years ahead, and wealthy investors want to get back in on the scene. Unless that happens, though, we've almost assuredly seen the last of The Guard.
