Immortals Gaming Club Officially Acquires OpTic Gaming

One of the biggest stories that have engulfed the esports industry as of late has the been the reported purchasing of OpTic Gaming parent company Infinite Esports and Entertainment by Immortals Gaming Club. While there have been multiple reports of Immortals having completed the monumental deal, the deal had not been officially confirmed by either party until Wednesday, June 12th. Taking to its official Immortals Twitter account, the esports organization revealed that the deal to purchase Infinite Esports and Entertainment has been officially completed. 

Immortals Gaming Club Acquire OpTic

The purchasing of Infinite Esports and Entertainment and OpTic by Immortals Gaming Club is the largest change of control transaction in the history of esports with its value of the transaction being more than $100,000,000 in enterprise value, according to a press release. With this acquisition, Immortals Gaming Club now owns the four major esports entities in OpTic, MIBR, Immortals, and the Los Angeles Valiant. 

“Today, we announced a transformative transaction for our organization and a landmark transaction for our industry. Across our family of brands, OpTic; MIBR; LA Valiant; and Immortals, IGC’s total audience size is nearly three times larger than our nearest competitors,” said IGC’s Chief Executive Officer Ari Segal.  “At the same time, our multi-brand strategy enables us to tailor content, messaging, voice, and experience for distinct communities and audience segments, driving deeper engagement and affinity. Armed with these brands, the best fans in esports, the legacy and tradition of great teams and players, and a newly reinforced and strong balance sheet, IGC is positioned to be a market leader and model organization.”

Many members of the esports community have been afraid that the purchasing of OpTic by the Immortals Gaming Club would lead to the high-profile organization being rebranded. However, this will only be the case for OpTic's North America League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) team when it is rebranded in 2020.

OpTic will still be a major player in the Call of Duty esports scene where the brand is easily the most popular organization in the world, according to Peter Levin, Managing Director of Griffin Gaming Partners and Chairman of the IGC Board of Directors. "Clearly OpTic is a premier Call of Duty brand. We are excited to work with our partners at Activision Blizzard to ensure that OpTic continues to play that leading role in Call of Duty's future," said Levin in an official press release. 

As for OpTic's Overwatch League team of the Houston Outlaws, Immortals Gaming Club will be managing the franchise as its own distinct entity with a dedicated staff until the Houston Outlaws are sold to a third-party organization. This is due to the Overwatch League rule that does not allow multiple teams to be owned by the same owner, as the organization already owns the Los Angeles Valiant Overwatch League team. 

Immortals Gaming Club will also remove the OpTic Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) team from its portfolio, as the organization already owns a CS:GO roster with its ownership of MIBR. 

With Immortals Gaming Club having officially acquired OpTic, the esports industry will be seeing some major changes taking place heading into the ever-growing future of professional gaming.