French electronics retailer LDLC has announced that its esports segment, LDLC OL (Team LDLC), will cease operations at the end of July 2023.
The owners of LDLC OL, Groupe LDLC and French football club Olympique Lyonnais, ultimately decided to end their partnership early. The organisation is leaving esports after more than a decade in the space.
Team LDLC is a well-known French organisation, most famous for its Counter-Strike rosters. The organisation was created in 2010 and has competed in both the original CS and CS:Source before entering CS:GO in 2012. The organisation’s biggest success was winning DreamHack Winter 2014, one of the first CS:GO Major championships.
In 2020, the organisation entered a partnership with Lyon-based football club Olympique Lyonnais and moved its headquarters to the city as a result. The organisation also changed its name to LDLC OL.
LDLC has recently had success in other games, notably League of Legends. The organisation won the European Masters Spring 2020, and was dominant in the LFL, the top-flight regional league in France. Team LDLC won five LFL splits since the league’s creation in 2019, including the competition’s most recent season. The organisation also finished second at EU Masters Spring 2022.
In the announcement, LDLC Group did not note the exact reasoning why it is to be disbanded apart from saying that “the teams did not manage to carve out a sufficient positioning among the general public, despite their best efforts.” This is interesting to note, considering that LDLC was a competitively successful team in France.
In a statement, the Team LDLC ownership noted: “The LDLC Group and OL Group have decided on the early termination of their LDLC OL partnership with effect from the end of July 2023. The end of this partnership will also mark LDLC Event’s withdrawal from the esports scene and the cessation of its operational activities in this sector.”
