Hi my name is Chris Beery AKA Darkchimaera, semi-professional Heroes of the storm player, formerly of King of Blades, owned by Ryan Diliello. This is a very difficult thing to write, as I really was proud of where our team was going, but I?m out of options and he says he is calling the police on me today. I want my side of the story told.
Disclaimer: The following is all my opinion and perception of what happened, backed up with as much evidence I can muster. Everything has been sent to our attorney (/u/videogameattorney) and this post was made with his blessing.
With Heroes I found a game that had a great community, and where no one individual could turn a game. A team had to win, and I loved that about it. I became good fast, and I looked for a team that would take me. I wound up with King of Blades. I was asked to sign a document I didn?t understand (my fault, I know), which turned out only to be a DBA. It was a high pressure, ?sign this or we don?t do this? situation.
We saw a lot of turnover at KOB. During my stay we went through many players, four managers, multiple coaches, a few business partners, one ex-wife, and a myriad of other people of varying impact on the org. That?s fine though, there?s always going to be turnover in eSports. What?s not fine is that the Delilio would burn bridges in awful ways when people left. I?ve now seen that first hand as he has been harassing me non-stop, threatening criminal charges against me, and sending me threatening texts and voicemails to comply, ?or else.? He?s also done this to our 17-year-old teammate, Tomster. So it shows you what kind of person he is.
Our team did well fast, and we qualified for Heroes Rising in January. Diliello would sit in our scrims and games, and harass and demean us over what felt like half of our choices. Right after a loss, where we are trying to regroup and win the next one, he would just start screaming at us. Not like a coach (we have a coach, it wasn?t his job regardless), just like a bully.
In return, he used me for connections. I introduced him to our current manager, major casters, blizzard employees, and even the attorney he is currently using against us. We were all on the same page that this trip would be a loss financially, but invaluable in being recognized within the scene and growing the KOB brand. The players wound up spending hundreds of our own dollars on travel while there, because the owner refused to help.
Right before the trip, he had thrown long and complex player agreements at everyone and said we had to sign now. He lost it when we were uncomfortable and wanted to use an attorney. He did the same after the tournament ended, saying we had a week to sign. Our salaries were $900 a year (yes you read that right) and we were only offered four percent (again, I know?) of tournament winnings. He gave us a five year non-compete and only 5% of our streaming revenue and donations.
Our attorney, Ryan Morrison, said that was far and away the worst he had ever seen in eSports. It?s also, obviously, not even minimum wage. So despite his threats, he?s the only one who is potentially in trouble.
The week following Heroes Rising was the limit for our signing the player contracts, but we understandably had a lot of questions. Some showed their parents, and so we worked to iron out any inconsistencies which we were originally told would be easily fixed and amended.
We only made it 2-3 days into our time limit before the owner declared we were ungrateful children and that all contracts were void. I was removed as captain and not allowed in the already dwindling decision making meetings.
Diliello continued to furiously verbally abuse us, and through a combination of trying to rationalize everything so we could still play professionally, and the promise of a team house and things ?would get better? we kept playing with the team. We never saw a cent in salary. We played well, and we qualified for the Spring NA Regionals! It was, without question, the happiest day of my life.
But that happiness faded fast as the trip was filled with constant harassment, endless texts and calls, all from Diliello. He would judge our play and bans and explode from the couch when we didn?t call back right away (we were busy, obviously). Our coach couldn?t stand the abuse and quit, but Diliello turned around and did one of the ?you can?t quit, you?re fired.? The rest of us were going to go with him, but Diliello said to give it a week to let things cool off and he would bring the coach back.
Instead he fired him publicly on facebook, and lied to us all. That was it. We were not going to take his abuse any longer. We all walked, and we aren?t looking back. However, as I said, he told us he is calling the cops on us today for ?larceny and extortion.? He is claiming I was a full partner because I signed a DBA, and he is claiming we have to pay him all the tournament money we won and reimburse him for any travel expenses he paid (even though Blizzard covered the second trip and we basically split the first one). It?s not about the money. It?s only a few grand. It?s about warning everyone else about this tyrant, and to think twice before working with him.
I?m truly sorry to my teammates that I kept pushing to go forward with me. And I?m truly sorry to all the people who have come and gone from this org and had to deal with Diliello. I know I?m putting a huge target on my back, and I know he?s going to come after me as hard as he can. I don?t care, I have to do what is right. You always said I had no spine, Diliello. Well, here it is.
