FISSURE CEO sets Q1 2027 target for prize debt repayments

FISSURE CEO Nikolay Vesnin acknowledged that the esports organiser owes prize money to 15 organisations and set the first quarter of 2027 as the target for a major round of repayments.

FISSURE’s public disclosure page lists organisations including Team Falcons, Aurora, FURIA, Team Liquid, The MongolZ and G2. The company plans to agree on an individual repayment schedule with each organisation and publish an update on payments during the first quarter of 2027.

Repayments have been underway since summer 2026. FISSURE used income from a tournament in China to pay about half of its outstanding CS2 debt. A first round of payments to some Dota 2 teams began before the company’s October tournament. FISSURE is also using income from other completed projects to meet its obligations.

“We now have a concrete financial plan that, if implemented, should allow us to carry out the next major phase of repayments as early as the first quarter of 2027,” Vesnin wrote. He added that FISSURE would not publish unconfirmed amounts or count ongoing contract negotiations as guaranteed income.

Vesnin attributed the debt to “serious mistakes in our commercial and financial planning” in 2025. FISSURE expected to sign a major agreement with a partner in the international English-language betting market, but the deal was not completed. The company also failed to secure enough partners from other industries and lost money on a tournament after it failed to meet participant targets set in a commercial agreement.

“We knew how this market worked. We made the decisions, and we understood the risks,” Vesnin wrote. He accepted responsibility on behalf of FISSURE’s leadership, including himself. The company laid off part of its staff at the end of 2025 because of its financial difficulties.

FISSURE plans to lower tournament costs by working more closely with host cities, countries and local partners. Future events will place more weight on audience potential, ticket sales, production costs and host terms. The company also plans to reduce spending, revise production processes and expand its commercial partnerships.

Vesnin wrote that prize pools for new tournaments are now secured before events begin and do not depend on FISSURE’s current finances. He defended the decision to continue organising tournaments, writing that a halt in operations would limit the company’s ability to repay its debts.

FISSURE has announced FISSURE Playground 4 CS, a CS2 LAN tournament scheduled for Aug. 18-30, 2027, with a $1.25 million prize pool. Its 2027 Dota 2 calendar includes six events. The announcements prompted questions from teams, players, journalists and fans about the company’s existing obligations.

FISSURE began organising grassroots events in Russia in 2013, later moving into tier-two online tournaments and work for international clients. The company operated without outside investment until 2022, when it entered a three-year partnership with BetBoom. Vesnin credited the partnership with supporting FISSURE’s first coverage of The International, the construction of studios in Yerevan in 2023 and the company’s relocation to Serbia.

Follow major CS2 events and browse CS2 skins while comparing different listings.