Esports Insider’s monthly roundup of the most important esports investment stories is back with another edition, and this time around we’re taking a deep dive into the biggest investment stories of May 2024.
Last month saw major moves from some of esports’ biggest organisations such as Team Liquid, FaZe Clan and Gen.G.
Let’s round up the top investment stories of May 2024!
As of this month, Esports Insider is merging two of its newsletters! Angels and Unicorns and The Dotted Line will be combined, with the latter now featuring top investment stories alongside partnership news. You can subscribe to the monthly newsletter here for a concise monthly analysis of the latest deals in esports.
As of this month, two of ESI’s newsletters are merging! Angels and Unicorns and The Dotted Line will be combined, with the latter now featuring top investment stories. As a result, don’t forget to subscribe to the monthly newsletter for more investment and partnership news.
Spotlighted story
Esports holding company GameSquare has announced the launch of FaZe Media, a creator-led media company for FaZe Clan’s IP.
Alongside the launch, FaZe Media has secured an $11m (~£8.68m) investment from Matt Kalish, President and Co-Founder of fantasy sports platform DraftKings. As a result of Kalish’s investment, he will become a member of the board of FaZe Media which will be led by FaZe Clan Founder Richard ‘FaZe Banks’ Bengston as the new company’s CEO.
This investment is aimed to help further grow FaZe’s brand. The organisation notably went public in 2022, but suffered low share prices and was ultimately acquired by GameSquare.
British esports organisation Guild Esports has disclosed in a form filed with the London Stock Exchange that a Dubai-based investor has acquired about 66.7m shares, totalling 8.28% of voting rights shares in the company.
The shares were acquired by Mr. Koshy Vinod. The acquisition makes him the third largest shareholder in Guild Esports, per a list of significant shareholders on Guild’s website. Guild Esports told Esports Insider in a statement that the shares were offered as part of a Convertible Loan Note Agreement.
Guild Esports announced a Convertible Loan Note Agreement with Compassare Holdings, worth £250,000 on a one-year term at an interest rate of 8%, in a release on April 2nd.
Multinational esports organisation Team Liquid has expanded into Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) after acquiring Southeast Asian esports organisation STUN.GG and its esports properties AURA Esports and ECHO Esports.
As a result of the purchase, AURA Esports and ECHO Esports will be rebranded to Team Liquid ID and Team Liquid PH, respectively. Both teams compete in the Mobile Legends Professional League (MPL) ecosystem, MLBB’s tier-one circuit, which includes franchised leagues MPL Indonesia and MPL Philippines. Team Liquid is just one of several Western brands investing into MPL, others being Team Falcons and Fnatic.
The Co-Founders of geography game GeoGuessr, Mikael Falgard and Daniel Antell, NHL player Adrian Kempe and singer Victor Leksell have joined the ownership group of Swedish esports organisation EYEBALLERS.
The new co-owners will help grow the organisation and its lifestyle brand in the future, while also expanding its content creator roster. EYEBALLERS’ new additions were announced as part of the organisation’s latest undisclosed investment round.
EYEBALLERS was founded by Jesper ‘JW’ Wecksell and Robin ‘flusha’ Rönnquist, two highly regarded players within Counter-Strike history.
Ahead of the 2024 OWCS Dallas Major, Overwatch Champions Series’ first international event, game developer Blizzard has released a crowdfunding bundle with proceeds going to the Major’s prize pool.
Blizzard noted that 25% of the revenues from the Azure Flame Hanzo OWCS Crowdfunding Bundle will go into the major’s prize pool. It is unknown at this time if ESL FACEIT Group, OWCS’ organiser, or Blizzard will contribute to the prize pool or whether the event is fully crowdfunded.
Norwegian esports organisation Apeks has shared that it will cease its CS2 and Fortnite operations, focusing on VALORANT in an effort to combat its difficult financial situation. The news was shared through a post on the company’s website, along with information about upcoming layoffs which will be made to offset high operation costs.
Still, Apeks aims to try and find new capital to help facilitate its return to other titles, but the organisation’s future is now very much in question.
Korean esports organisation Gen.G has announced the acquisition of League of Legends data analysis and networking platform YOUR.GG.
As a result of the deal, Gen.G will be equipping its global esports academy with YOUR.GG’s analytical tools to expand its offering. By providing data-driven solutions and reports, Gen.G is also looking to foster growth for both its professional players and academy students.
Financial details regarding the purchase have not been revealed.
