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Why is paying gamers so hard? Paying your players is made easy with Edge AUTHOR Andrew Hayward @ahaywa
s the esports industry expands and evolves, it is gradually becoming more and more professional -- but it still lives up to the disparaging “Wild West” moniker at times. Every so often, an organisation seemingly disappears into thin air with a trail of players claiming unpaid winnings or salaries, or players visibly run afoul of contract stipulations.
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That’s where Edge aims to fill a void. The esports startup employs automated smart contracts to ensure that all parties meet their obligations and receive their stakes, and that the whole process is as transparent and effortless as possible. 48
“Edge is a data-driven payments platform,” explained co-founder and CEO Adam Whyte. “What we do is we make sure that every single gamer gets paid the prize money, salaries, and sponsorship fees they’re promised by tournament organisers and teams, and we help tournament organisers, publishers, and teams manage their contracts, payments, and data in one platform.” Whyte worked as a sports lawyer between 2009 and 2015, with football clubs such as AS Roma, Manchester City and Sevilla FC, on matters such as contract negotiations, transfer agreements, and sponsorship
agreements. He also argued about 25 total cases before the Court of Arbitration for Sport, FIFA’s Dispute Resolution Chamber, and the UEFA Disciplinary Committee. He then moved to London and completed a Master’s degree in business and got deep into Blizzard Entertainment’s Hearthstone, logging some 30,000 matches and entering pro tournaments. However, he quickly realised that competing wasn’t his true calling in esports. “I got tired of losing to people half my age and twice as good as me,” Whyte recalled, so he started helping
