Legal Tussle Erupts Between Gala Games and True North

True North United Investments has initiated legal action against Eric Schiermeyer, the CEO of the Web3-enabled play-to-earn gaming service Gala Games. The allegations include poor corporate governance, misallocation of company resources, and dubious business operations.

Eric Schiermeyer and Wright Thurston, the founder of True North United Investments, co-established Gala Games. The duo has a history of legal confrontations; Schiermeyer had earlier accused Thurston of pilfering $130 million in digital currency, which led to a counter-lawsuit by Thurston.

In the current legal dispute, Thurston claims that Schiermeyer misused millions of dollars for personal expenses, misappropriated $600 million of company assets, and improperly seized business opportunities by setting up new enterprises in Switzerland and Dubai. Additionally, Thurston accuses Schiermeyer of obstructing his involvement in decision-making processes at the Gala Games, compounded by allegations of fiscal mismanagement through the provision of inaccurate financial data. True North aims to oust Schiermeyer from his leadership roles and seeks redress for alleged damages.

Separately, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has lodged a fraud lawsuit against Thurston related to an unrelated venture, Green Boxes, which purported to mine eco-friendly cryptocurrency tokens.

For those unfamiliar, Gala Games operates on the Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain and offers an array of play-to-earn gaming options, an NFT marketplace, as well as music and film products. The platform thrives on a decentralized network of user-owned nodes that take on various roles, from hosting to guiding the platform’s future direction.

The play-to-earn gaming sector is experiencing rapid growth, with NFT-based games becoming a vital component of the Web3 metaverse. Games like “Axie Infinity” have spotlighted this business model’s viability. The industry is also likely to see significant changes due to Facebook’s metamorphosis into Meta Platforms and Microsoft’s recent purchase of Activision Blizzard.

Despite its innovative business model, Gala Games has seen a substantial decline in the value of its native GALA token, which has plummeted 98% from its peak of over $0.82 in November 2021. As of the latest update, the token’s value stands at roughly $0.0167, with a market cap of about $431.7 million.

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