'Dota 2' champs Navi rift rumors: Is one of esports' best teams imploding?

One of the most successful teams in all of esports may be on the brink of a roster shakeup after rumors that a poor performance at a recent tournament caused a rift in their ranks.

Natus Vincere -- more commonly known as team NaVi -- failed to make the top 10 in the high-stakes International 6 Dota 2 tournament this spring in Seattle. Some players "had a falling out" after that fail and don't want to play with each other anymore, former team Navi player Dmitriy "LighTofHeaveN" Kupriyanov said during a Twitch stream Wednesday night.

Kupriyanov, now a Dota 2 commentator, said he has "verified information from a reliable source" that some NaVi players had an argument right after the TI6 tournament, which set a record with its $20 million prize pool.

Navi, the fifth-highest earning team in all of esports, finished in 16th place, the lowest payout spot and nowhere near the $10 million top prize. The team hasn't been having a great year, and hasn't competed since a couple of smaller tournaments this summer.

Mashable's messages sent to Navi media contacts were not immediately returned Thursday.

Kupriyanov also said during his Twitch stream that Navi is trying to settle the argument in time for invites to upcoming qualifiers and tournaments. If they want to compete in the Boston Major, with its $3 million prize pool, they've got 10 days to get things sorted out before the Oct. 23 open qualifiers.

Kupriyanov also implied that some NaVi members already have all the money and popularity they can handle and don't really care for more -- so it sounds like burnout might be a factor here.