Infinite Esports and Entertainment, the holding company for OpTic Gaming, is currently undergoing a staff restructuring – laying off 19 members of staff as well as its president, Chris Chaney. He remains an investor and board member for the company, but will no longer oversee the day-to-day operations.
Ryan “OpTicJ” Musselman is the new president of Infinite Esports and Entertainment, telling SportsBusiness Daily that “we think we grew too fast”.
Due to a difference of opinion regarding the future of the LoL department, I'm parting ways w/@OpTicGaming.
I'm now a free agent.
Ive been doing international esport for 5y and I still believe in LoL.
Background: mngmt/marktng/comm
Resume: https://t.co/VoYGQ5ML25
DM on/RT welcome— Romain Bigeard (@RomainBigeard) October 8, 2018
OpTic Gaming has expanded into major esports such as League of Legends and Overwatch since Neil Leibman, Co-owner of Texas Rangers and Chris Chaney bought a controlling stake in the organisation and formed Infinite Esports and Entertainment in November 2017. It’s obligated to pay a reported $13 million and near $20 million for spots in the NA LCS and Overwatch League, respectively.
Infinite Esports and Entertainment owns a small portfolio of esports organisations and franchises, as well as a suite of accompanying companies. The organisations are OpTic Gaming, OpTic LoL, Houston Outlaws, Obey Alliance, Team Allegiance, and GG Esports Academy (GGEA). The companies it owns are Innovative Performance Institute, Triggerfish Partnerships, NGAGE Esports, Sector Six, Third Label, and No Scope Media.
As of today, I’m no longer with @InfiniteEnE. It’s been great working with other driven individuals in the esports community. I’m extremely thankful to have lead such a talented creative and marketing team. One door closes but many more open. Not done. Time for the next level up.
— Markel Lee (@Markel_Lee) October 10, 2018
At the time of writing, some of the recent departures from Infinite Esports and Entertainment – that have either left of their own accord or have been let go – include the likes of Romain Bigeard, General Manager of OpTic Gaming and Ali ‘Alicus’ Saba, Director of International Development for Infinite Esports and Entertainment. There have been numerous more cuts too across coaching, marketing, creative, content and business development divisions.
OpTic Gaming operates a community website (Greenwall.gg) with its own editor, James “Obscurica” Chen, and a pool of freelancers. While the fate of the website hasn’t been made public, Obscurica himself has been let go, as have the entire roster of freelancers. They were told that content was being put on hold temporarily, but never received an update and communication was promptly cut.
Infinite Esports and Entertainment started the OpTic Global initiative in May, expanding the organisation out into different regions. Over time, this has grown to include OpTic India, OpTix Mexico, OpTic SEA, and OpTic Brazil. Three of these four new divisions actively compete in esports titles, whereas the other is a collective of streamers.
In August of this year, Stephen Hays, Managing Partner of Deep Space Ventures was arrested for allegedly assaulting his wife with a hammer. Deep Space Ventures invested in seed and series-A stage startups, and this included Infinite Esports & Entertainment.
On October 9th, Echo Fox announced a similar move. It had decided to part ways with its rosters for Call of Duty and Gears of War – as well as an undisclosed amount of fighting game competitors. This was in an effort to put the organisation in a healthier place moving forward.
Esports Insider says: Maybe there’s such as a thing as growing too big, too quickly. Infinite Esports and Entertainment not only owns a shed-load of organisations and companies, but it entered two major leagues in quick succession. It’s a shame to see so many talented esports enthusiasts lose their spot in one of esports’ hottest properties, but it seems like organisations will finally start to realise the perils of frivolously overspending.