Turner “Tfue” Tenney has streamed for the first time since splitting from FaZe Clan.
The Fortnite star turned variety streamer jumped onto Twitch on Wednesday night for some Call of Duty: Warzone. Though the stream came a short time after a critical victory in Tfue’s career, fans hoping for him to blast FaZe Clan and celebrate wildly were instead met with a low-key but generally positive stream.
Despite also being active on Twitter, Tfue made no mention of the official split from FaZe. Though this is the official close of a tumultuous chapter in Tfue’s career as an influencer, he seems more than content in simply putting the incident behind him and moving on.
Catch up on the Tfue vs. FaZe legal battle:
Tfue leaves FaZe Clan after settling massive lawsuit
The stream came several hours after news broke that Tfue and FaZe Clan had settled their lawsuit out of court. No details on the settlement were given, but a joint statement by both sides’ legal representation suggested Tfue’s time with FaZe was over with the settlement.
“Faze and Turner Tenney are pleased to announce they have resolved their disputes and settled their litigations. The parties wish one another the best of luck in future endeavors,” the statement said.
Tfue sued FaZe Clan in 2019 to get out of his contract with FaZe, claiming that his contract was exploitative and illegal under California law. FaZe responded with a counter-suit claiming Tfue had damaged their ability to do business. The two sides then began a prolonged social media battle, with highlights including Tfue demanding FaZe make his contract public and FaZe releasing an embarrassingly bad diss track aimed at Tfue.
Though Tfue was one of Twitch’s most popular streamers, his deal with FaZe Clan prevented him from obtaining his own individual sponsorships. Other popular streamers such as Tyler “Ninja” Blevins and Michael “shroud” Grzesiek split away from Luminosity Gaming and Cloud9 respectively because they could obtain more lucrative deals on their own. The length of Tfue’s contract would have prevented him from fully capitalizing on his fame in the streaming world.
The lawsuit between Tfue and FaZe Clan carried major ramifications in both the streaming and esports industries. Organizations such as FaZe sign deals with streamers in order to guarantee visibility for sponsors, something which these organizations’ esports teams can’t always do as reliably. Most esports organizations have contracts similar to the one between Tfue and FaZe, and a loss in the courts for FaZe might have established legal precedent that would have severely weakened organizations’ hold on their contracted talent.
A loss in the courts could have been in the cards for FaZe. Though a judge in California threw out Tfue’s initial case and a judge in New York dismissed most of FaZe’s counter-claims, the case was headed the California Labor Commission. FaZe pushed for the litigation to be based in New York instead of California due to California’s stronger protections for labor.
Though Tfue was a key figure for FaZe Clan, the organization would have been risking itself in front of the California Labor Commission. Rather than taking this risk, FaZe acquiesced to his push to leave the organization.
Tfue is now free to seek out his own sponsors in the space, while FaZe will continue on with its expansive stable of popular talent.
