Thorin claims chicken handler at FACEIT Major was paid same amount as some casters
Thorin, the self-proclaimed ‘Esports Historian,’ said that the handler of the chicken who was making predictions at the CS:GO FACEIT Major was being paid the same amount as at least one of the casters.
The in-game chicken is a running gag for CS:GO, and FACEIT stepped it up a notch when they had an actual live chicken who chose a team by eating out of a bag of food.
At the time it was a funny gag, but now Thorin is questioning if FACEIT really spent their money appropriately in prioritizing a chicken over the on-air talent.
Call me nuts but l think to waste £500 a day on a fucking chicken pecking to make predictions at the same event you're driving down the rates of both the best talent in the industry and newer talent is kind of wack.
— Thorin (@Thooorin) October 23, 2018
As a CS:GO commentator himself, Thorin has a direct stake in how much his peers are being paid even though he wasn’t at FACEIT himself.
That may have been the reason for his anti-chicken crusade or he may just be trying to go to bat for the other casters who may be unable to speak up from contractual obligations.
While that price associated with hiring a chicken may seem high, using animals in broadcast is often an expensive venture.
Still, Thorin’s main issue is not the payment to the chicken’s handler but the possibility that the casters rates were lowered as a result of a seemingly frivolous expense.