Metaverse company Infinite Reality and Spanish esports organisation KOI have announced that their strategic partnership will end.
As a result of the split, KOI will retain ownership of its VALORANT Champions Tour EMEA League team, FIFAe division and League of Legends LVP Superliga team.
On the other side, ReKTGlobal, Infinite Reality’s esports organisation and owners of the Rogue brand, will keep its franchises in the Call of Duty League and LEC, as well as retain its Rocket League and Rainbow Six divisions. It has not been disclosed what name or brand these divisions will compete under, whether that’s ReKTGlobal, Rogue or another moniker.
The strategic partnership between Rogue and KOI, which saw KOI enter the LEC, was only active for one year having been announced in October 2022. According to a release by Infinite Reality, the reason KOI opted to dissolve the partnership was due to its goals being unachievable in the current financial climate.
Despite placing in the middle of the standings throughout the 2023 LEC season, KOI was a relatively popular organisation in the league. Throughout LEC’s Winter, Spring and Summer splits the organisation — founded by Kosmos and Spanish streamer Ibai Llanos — was regularly featured in the top five most popular match-ups. This included having the most popular match in the LEC Summer Split, which garnered 343,576 peak viewers between KOI and Mad Lions.
KOI Co-Founder, Ibai Llanos, said: “It has been my dream to bring KOI to the LEC but now it is time to reset the focus for the organisation and to continue the exciting journey together with our fans.”
In 2024, League of Legends’ esports landscape in Europe and North America will look very different as multiple new franchises enter the LEC and LCS. Alongside KOI leaving the LEC, Astralis will depart the league with popular French organisation Karmine Corp taking its place. Moreover, the LCS will welcome Shopify Rebellion to the North American franchised league after acquiring TSM’s slot.
In July 2022, Infinite Reality acquired Rogue and Carolina Royal Ravens’ parent company ReKTGlobal for $470m (~£360m).
