European esports organisation G2 Esports reportedly filed a lawsuit on March 16th claiming that NFT solutions provider Bondly misled its leadership and missed deliverable deadlines.
The lawsuit, which was first reported by the Washington Post, was filed to the Los Angeles County Superior Court. G2 is claiming damages of over $5.25m (~GBP3.96m).
G2 Esports and Bondly originally partnered in June 2021.According to the outlet, Bondly reportedly wanted to postpone the agreement, which G2 rejected and moved forward with legal action.
(ESI Illustration) Image credit: G2 Esports / Bondly / Tingey Injury Law Firm
RELATED: G2 Esports partners with Bondly to launch NFT series
Bondly and G2 agreed that the NFT company would use G2’s brand identity to create a series of G2-branded NFTs, according to court files provided to the Washington Post. The partnership was set to last for two years, and Bondly also agreed to an annual rights fee of $2m (~GBP1.50m), as well as an “advance guarantee” of $1.25m (~GBP0.94m).
The first NFTs were set to be released on June 30th, 2021 on Bondly’s platform.
In early 2022, G2 Esports announced a separate NFT-focused partnership with another NFT company, Metaflex. An update regarding its deal with Bondly was not mentioned in the new deal, but the original partership’s press release was deleted from G2 Esports’ website.
RELATED: G2 Esports launches NFT ‘social club’ Samurai Army
G2 Esports is not the only company to have partnered with Bondly. The NFT solutions provider teamed up with BLAST Premier in June 2021 to launch a chicken-themed NFT collection.
This story is still developing. Esports Insider has reached out to G2 for comment.
Esports Insider says: This might be the first large lawsuit between an esports brand and a blockchain-related company, at least publicly. This is a significant allegation and large damage claim allegedly being brought by G2 against a prominent NFT platform. It’s certainly worth keeping an eye on the result of this and what rippling effects it could have for G2, Bondly, and NFTs in esports.