From desperately needing money to now becoming the money making org, this has been Heroicly done!
In a time when the term “esports winter” is still being used, tournament organisers are making budget cuts, organisations are struggling to generate revenue, sponsorships are coming and going—there is a lot of uncertainty for everyone involved in the scene. But some are weathering the storm better than most…
When it comes to organisations, Heroic is one of the few that has found its way—a little bit by chance, a little bit by making the right decisions, and by having players that others want. This has skyrocketed them into a position of business power. Some now see them as a feeder team, and for loyal fans of the brand and organisation, that might feel a bit sad.
First, we need to look at how we got here… especially considering this organisation desperately needed to raise money just to have a chance at staying open.
I took this from escorenews.com:
Heroic called for an extraordinary general meeting on March 20 regarding its financial situation. The organization is currently low on resources and aims to find a million dollars by the summer of 2023 to continue operations, according to Pley.gg.
At the end of January, former Heroic CEO Joachim Haraldsen said that the club needs to find NOK 80 million ($7.5 million) by 2025 to keep the business going, of which at least $1 million is required by the summer of 2023.
They were able to secure the $1M in funding to keep things running. This was crucial at the time for cadiaN, TeSeS, sjuush, stavn, and jabbi, with Xizt as coach. They went on to win the BLAST Premier Spring Finals in Washington, USA.
The $1M wasn’t going to keep the whole organisation afloat, but they were more than saved. Over the past few years, they’ve become a money-making org. Heroic had all the shares of “Heroic Group” purchased for $5.26M, as reported by Esports Insider.
For an organisation that was running out of money, this was a saving moment. Since then, Heroic has managed to maintain a strong position in the Counter-Strike scene at the top level, while also making significant player sales and changes that have earned them a lot of money—keeping the business going and helping it succeed better than ever before.
I want to look at the cost, though. From a business standpoint, this is all positive. But for fans of the organisation and its identity, maybe not so much…
Next, I’ll cover some of the transfers they’ve made, with rumoured and estimated sale prices. I won’t include every smaller transfer, just the big ones, as this info is more readily available. I’ll make note of it all.
To explain simply:
- Player sales = selling a player to another team
- Player purchases = buying a player from another team
- Free agents = players signed without a buyout or transfer fee
- Nov 24th 2023 – Stavn & Jabbi sold to Astralis – Estimated $1.5–2M
- Dec 6th 2023 – cadiaN sold to Team Liquid – Estimated $600K
- Dec 16th 2023 – sAw (coach) purchased from ENCE to Heroic – Valuable coach, known for player development
- Dec 17th 2023 – NertZ purchased from ENCE to Heroic – Depending on contract length, likely an expensive purchase
- Dec 18th 2023 – Nicodoz purchased from Preasy to Heroic – Likely low-cost, given the source team
- Dec 21st 2023 – kyxsan purchased from Apeks to Heroic – Rumoured over $500K, given his rise in stock
- May 12th 2024 – degster purchased from OG’s bench to Heroic – Likely lower cost due to his 11-month benching
- Jan 4th 2025 – Following VRS rules and Falcons’ need to buy league/event spots, Heroic sold TeSeS, kyxsan, and degster to Falcons – Estimated $6M
- Jan 6th 2025 – NertZ sold to Liquid – Estimated higher than cadiaN ($600K), but exact amount unknown
From there, Heroic purchased the Sangal core (yxngstxr, LNZ, xfl0ud), added tN1R from GUN5, and SunPayus from Falcons to form their current roster, with sAw still coaching.
SunPayus had been benched at Falcons for a few months—still valuable, but likely not a huge buyout.
The Sangal players weren’t big names, so likely low-cost. Their VRS point value was the real appeal. For tN1R, being part of the GUN5 org (owned by a famous Russian streamer), there likely wasn’t a strong contract hold. sAw probably scouted his potential.
OverDrive, who reports on CS transfers, stated publicly:
Heroic earned almost 10millions$ on transfers in 2024!
— OverDrive (@ABOverDrive) December 29, 2024
Heroic reportedly made $10M from transfers in 2024.
Based on my own calculations (using low-end estimates), even after player purchases to form the current team, they’re up $6M. This doesn’t account for salaries or operational costs.
Additionally, they’ve gained:
- Sponsor income
- $75,000 from CCT Global Finals
- $135,000 from MESA Nomadic Masters Spring
From a business standpoint, given what the new owners paid and what Heroic has done since—it’s a major turnaround from their near-collapse in 2023.
From a fan’s standpoint, the brand no longer includes the iconic Danish players it was built on. They’re now seen by some as a feeder team, making it harder to maintain fan loyalty. However, they’ve also gained new fans from other countries, supporting the current international roster.
Most recently, rumours were confirmed: both SunPayus, the star of the team, and coach sAw will be moving to G2 Esports. This would be another big sale, but also a major loss—especially without a coach like sAw to scout new talent and support young players.
While the financial success of the past two years is impressive, as of today, Heroic sits at #14 on the VRS Ranking—a critical metric for event invites. If they do well at the Major, they could massively benefit in the second half of 2025.
The real question: Will they continue selling cores for profit, or finally settle, build long-term, and push to re-enter the elite tier of Counter-Strike?
We’ll have to wait and see.
