Upcomer lays off bulk of editorial staff

Upcomer, an esports and gaming media publication owned by Enthusiast Gaming, has laid off the majority of its editorial staff.

The background: Upcomer was launched to provide "unrivalled esports journalism."

• The publication officially kicked things off in April 2021 led by former ESPN esports editor, Sean Morrison.
• Upcomer placed a lot of emphasis on written content, though it also valued video and hired Colin McNeil of theScore to lead its efforts there.
• This isn't the first instance of Upcomer facing a drastic cutback of some sort. Under previous ownership, it was a publication that also had a mobile app with match scores and was abruptly shut down in 2019.

The pivot: Upcomer will remain, despite parting ways with much of its editorial staff.

• On March 10, Editor-in-Chief Morrison announced on Twitter that parent company Enthusiast Gaming "disagreed" with his positive verdict on Upcomer's performance.
• Many of the writing staff at the publication had been laid off that day as part of a "company-wide pivot to video." Hitmarker has identified at least 11 people that had been impacted by the decision.
• Historically esports publications have gone under due to a lack of return on investment, perhaps relying too heavily on advertising revenues. Tyler "FionnOnFire" Erzberger, a senior member of Upcomer that had been let go, claims that the site was still growing and February 2022 was its best month for readership.