Disguised Toast’s rollercoaster journey in esports

Garance Limouzy September 26, 2024

When it comes to esports, few figures stand out like Jeremy “Disguised Toast” Wang. Known for his viral content and sense of humour, the famous Taiwanese-Canadian streamer decided in early 2023 to launch his esports organisation, Disguised (DSG). However, this ambitious venture has not come without its challenges.

“It definitely has its ups and downs; except when you win, you still lose money”

Just months into this venture, Toast revealed a loss of around $1 million on his YouTube channel. In a recent interview with talent agency Loaded, as reported by Forbes, he candidly shared that despite his initial expectations, Disguised is still operating at a loss. “I’m happy with the progress and still losing a lot of money on it!” he remarked, adding, “It definitely has its ups and downs; except when you win, you still lose money.”

Wang’s decision to launch Disguised comes from a desire to explore new horizons beyond streaming. Recognising the transient nature of a career in gaming, he is actively seeking ways to diversify his opportunities. “The occupation of being a Twitch streamer does not have a long history,” he explained. “It’s hard to look at people who’ve done it in the past to model yourself after and figure out what’s next.”

Founded in January 2023, Disguised has quickly made its mark, fielding competitive teams in titles such as Valorant, League of Legends, Apex Legends, and Tekken 8. Under Wang’s guidance, the League of Legends team secured the organisation’s first trophy by winning the summer split of the North American Challengers League (NACL).

However, the journey hasn’t been smooth. Disguised exited the Valorant Game Changers scene in late 2023 after losing to cheaters. At the time, Toast and his team released a statement saying, “After a heart-breaking ending to our GC Series 3 run this year, where a player was able to bypass Riot’s anti-cheat system in our games, we do not feel comfortable investing more into the scene as it exists today.” More concerningly, Disguised continues to struggle with navigating a highly competitive and financially challenging environment.

“Either broke or going broke”

“If you look at any esports org in North America, all of them are either broke or going broke,” explained the streamer. His experience illustrates the difficulties many teams face in securing sponsorships and making a sustainable profit. “After 10 years of esports teams kind of lying, brands don’t want to invest anymore because they’re tired of bleeding money,” he noted.

On this topic, Wang “Toast” shared a story about approaching a high-profile energy drink brand, only to find them disengaged from the esports scene. “They said, ‘Sorry, we’re leaving esports,’” he recalled, reflecting the pervasive skepticism towards the industry.

Remaining optimistic

A year ago, Jeremy “Disguised Toast” Wang displayed his signature blend of humour and resilience, joking, “I’m really hoping in four months I’m not making another video titled ‘How I spent two million dollars.’” Fast forward to today, and the reality is less comedic; although he’s kept the exact figures under wraps, Toast admits that his esports venture, Disguised, is still grappling with significant losses.

Despite the financial hurdles, Wang remains optimistic. “So far, things have been getting better with every year as I gain more understanding about the scene,” he said. His passion project has already seen some success; a recent collaboration with Loaded for a World of Warcraft campaign demonstrated promising engagement and strategic alignment with Blizzard.