Gaimin Gladiators is reportedly suing its own Dota 2 roster, including recently-retired Quinn “Quinn” Callahan, in a surprising escalation of one of the game’s biggest news stories of the year.
The International 2025 was largely standard fare for Dota 2 fans. Outside a surprisingly poor performance by Team Spirit and a near-Cinderella run by Xtreme Gaming, the build and outcome were mostly standard fare. The major exception to that was the surprise announcement that Gaimin Gladiators, one of the top Dota 2 teams of recent years and of 2025 to that point, was not going to compete in the event despite receiving a direct invitation to TI.
Despite plenty of odd occurrences surrounding the event over the years, no team or organization had ever willingly turned down competing at The International. After the initial news broke, it was quickly revealed by the organization and its former players that there was more to this story than it seemed. Now, it looks like everything could be laid bare in a courtroom.
According to a report, the Gaimin Gladiators roster is suing four of its former Dota 2 players for $7.5 million CAD. As of this writing, this is equivalent to more than $5.3 million USD. The news comes from veteran esports journalist Richard Lewis.
Quinn “Quinn” Callahan, Marcus Folke “Ace” Hoelgaard Christensen, Erik “tOfu” Engel, and Alimzhan “watson” Islambekov are named as the defendants in the lawsuit. Arman “Malady” Orazbayev, who was signed to the GG roster in April, is not facing legal action.
The players were competing under the Gaimin Gladiators banner until late August 2025. After being eliminated from the Fissure Universe Episode 6 event, Valve issued a statement that the team would not be competing at The International. Quinn stated on Twitter that the organization refused to let the team compete at The International despite a willingness to represent Gaimin Gladiators.
Gaimin Gladiators co-founder Nick Cuccovillo responded to Quinn. In a statement, he blamed the players for negotiations taking so long that they were forced out of the tournament.
Officially speaking, three of those four players still remain attached to Gaimin Gladiators’ Dota 2 roster. Quinn announced his retirement from Dota 2 competition days before news of the lawsuit broke.
Gaimin Gladiators is embroiled in controversy after taking legal action against much of its 2025 Dota 2 roster. The organization alleges that the players cost it millions of dollars in sponsorships due to an unwillingness to follow through on “deliverables,” as well as behavioral issues by Quinn specifically.
In October 2024, Quinn referred to Russia as a “trash country.” This was followed by the organization publicly reprimanding Quinn and labeling his statement as “discrimination.” Russian sportsbook Winline was a sponsor of Gaimin Gladiators when Quinn made this statement, but did not renew its sponsorship after. GG did, however, keep Quinn on its roster for nearly a year after, and he continued to compete under the team’s banner.
Alongside this, the Gaimin Gladiators organization issued a statement to Lewis following the lawsuit claiming that the players owe the organization money. This stems from fines related to “unfulfilled social and sponsorship deliverables” stretching over a period of 18 months.
None of the current or former Gaimin Gladiators players named in the lawsuit have yet made a public statement regarding the lawsuit.
Featured image credit: Gaimin Gladiators
21+ and present in VA. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.
