[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]According to multiple sources, including one former employee, Vulcun purchased skin gambling website CS:GO Jackpot last year, and may even be continuing to operate it to this day.[/perfectpullquote]

When reports initially surfaced about ties between CS:GO Shuffle and James “PhantomL0rd” Varga, they included details that esports fantasy company Vulcun had attempted to purchase several CS:GO skin gambling websites. In response, Vulcun CEO Ali Moiz said that Vulcun had “’explored the idea… but never issued a formal term sheet offer or other written offer.’ They denied owning any ‘stake, major or minor, in any CS:GO Skin site of any kind whatsoever.’”

The Esports Observer has reason to believe, however, that Moiz was lying. According to multiple sources, including one former employee, Vulcun purchased skin gambling website CS:GO Jackpot last year, and may even be continuing to operate it to this day.

Strategic Partnership

To be clear, ties between Vulcun and CS:GO Jackpot definitely exist. Last July, Vulcun announced a “strategic partnership” with CS:GO Jackpot as part of a larger business move away from paid fantasy games.

Just two months later in September, the founders of CS:GO Jackpot, including “chrisMartinPT,” were out:

The original CSGOJackpot founders have left the project, me included. — chrisMartin (@chrisMartinPT) September 22, 2015

Ownership of CS:GO Jackpot, after that moment, remains to this day unclear. Our sources, however, are adamant that Vulcun took over the operation of CS:GO Jackpot from that point forward.

It’s also worth noting that in January, when Vulcun shut down paid fantasy for good, the company underlined a move towards “making Vulcun the premier place to win in-game virtual items.” With this in mind, continuing to operate CS:GO Jackpot from the shadows seems a definite possibility. Only one thing is certain—CS:GO Jackpot, unlike many skin gambling sites, remains up and running today.

The Vulcun Connection

We reached out to Vulcun and Moiz to confirm the claims, but have thus far not received any response. Publicly, however, there is some evidence that Vulcun, at the very least, contributed to the operation of CS:GO Jackpot.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Immediately after reaching out to this person, they removed the reference to CS:GO Jackpot and made their profile protected.[/perfectpullquote]

The Skype logs from the CS:GO Shuffle report, for example, include a section where PhantomL0rd and CS:GO Shuffle web designer and entrepreneur Joris Duhau discuss CS:GO Jackpot. Specifically, Duhau mentions that “if [Vulcun] bought jackpot, they kept the staff,” implying that Duhau thought Jackpot was owned by Vulcun.

There’s more than just that, however. We managed to track down at least one staff member of Vulcun who stated on their Twitter profile that they worked for CS:GO Jackpot as well. Their LinkedIn profile, however, only mentioned Vulcun, inferring that the two are one and the same. Immediately after reaching out to this person, they removed the reference to CS:GO Jackpot and made their profile protected. Despite this, they have not responded to multiple requests for comment.

Vulcun today

Our sources say that Vulcun’s ownership of CS:GO Jackpot continued through the end of last year and into 2016. However, with the gambling market of CS:GO becoming exposed and increasingly attacked, our sources say that Vulcun’s investors, among them no less than Sequoia Capital, one of the biggest names in technology-focused venture capital, became wary of the company’s connection to an active skin gambling site. At this point, Vulcun apparently sold off CS:GO Jackpot.

One source, however, speculated that Vulcun may very well still be operating CS:GO Jackpot, and that the company might be trying to hide it from their investors. Multiple requests to talk to the various parties that may currently operate the site went unanswered.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Vulcun might be trying to hide it from their investors.[/perfectpullquote]

Uphill battles

Regardless of whether Vulcun currently owns CS:GO Jackpot, the company is still facing a massive uphill battle and very public criticism. Now that skin gambling has been ruled out, the company announced a new, new direction, towards “games and interactive experiences… done natively within Twitch Chat.”

Meanwhile, the FTC charge levied against the company in February, for “repurposing an Android gaming app into their own private ad delivery system onto the mobile devices of more than 200,000 users,” finally came to a resolution. Despite Moiz stating that the charges had “multiple inaccuracies” and were “false and misleading,” the FTC approved the order in May, finalizing a settlement with Vulcun.

At this point, it’s hard to tell which is more difficult for Vulcun: sticking to one business model, or simply telling the truth.