HER Galaxy and Galaxy Racer were supposed to pay a staggering $100,000 in prize money for a women’s Apex Legends tournament by Dec. 22. However, the tournament organizers have failed to contact the owed competitors to collect payment information, despite Galaxy Racer acquiring new funding in the interim.
Galaxy Racer’s HER Galaxy tournament took place from April to June 2023, offering women in the Apex community a chance to compete for a groundbreaking $100,000 prize pool. However, Galaxy Racer has recently laid off its NA team and has ignored pleas from competitors about their overdue prize money.
Advertising image for the HER Galaxy $100,000 tournament. Image via HER Galaxy
Galaxy Racer has a controversial history with payments. In September 2023, an anonymous whistleblower reached out to The Esports Advocate, revealing a slew of payment issues including unpaid HER Galaxy staff. The whistleblower claimed that not only have many payments across all facets of Galaxy Racer and Nigma Galaxy been delayed or not received, but also that “men are being prioritized over women when people do get paid.”
This is a serious claim from the whistleblower, but it does not seem far-fetched considering that HER Galaxy staff have reportedly been paid while the all-female competitors have not.
Following a Dec. 1 report on HER Galaxy and its payment issues, Galaxy Racer chief of staff Walid Singer reached out to Dot Esports. After the Dec. 22 deadline passed, he was contacted again regarding the lack of collection of the necessary payment information to distribute the prize pool, let alone pay the players what they are owed. In response to the Dec. 22 message, Singer claimed “the deadline is in December and we will pay out prize pools in December,” suggesting that the senior staff at Galaxy might be unaware that the contract sent to competitors says otherwise.
Singer was likely referencing the email players received when HER Galaxy announced its withdrawal from tournament organization projects. In this email, Galaxy Racer director of NA operations Joyce Ajouri communicated that “all tournament payouts will be fulfilled in the month of December.” But, as previously mentioned, this contradicts what players were told when they signed up for the tournament.
Another aspect of HER Galaxy’s non-payment issue is the concern that Galaxy Racer will try to avoid payment responsibility through its Nov. 30 email or another potential loophole.
Screenshot from HER Galaxy rulebook taken by Dot Esports
According to section 10.1.2 of the HER Galaxy rulebook, “if a participant fails to provide accurate payment information, an invoice, or other required documentation (e.g. tax documents), the prize money will not be paid out until a reasonable time after this has been rectified.” Neither HER Galaxy nor Galaxy Racer staff have collected payment information from competitors, meaning necessary details are not at their disposal.
