Envy Gaming
Revenue | US$8 million (2019)[1] |
---|---|
Subsidiaries | |
Website | envy |
Envy Gaming, Inc was a collective esports and gaming company. It was originally founded in 2007 by Tosh "Stainville" Mcgruder and Skyler "Foreplayy" Johnson as a Call of Duty esports team known as Team EnVyUs. Envy Gaming, LLC was formed in October 2012 and incorporated as Envy Gaming, Inc in May 2016. The company owned and operated several esports teams, including Team Envy, the Dallas Fuel of the Overwatch League, and the OpTic Texas of the Call of Duty League with OpTic Gaming. In June 2022, it was announced Envy Gaming would retire the Envy brand, and fully become OpTic Gaming.
History
2007–2016
Envy Gaming was originally founded by Tosh "Stainville" Mcgruder and Skyler "Foreplayy" Johnson as a professional
2017–2022
After a reportedly US$35 million investment from
On June 28, 2018, Envy Gaming hired former
Envy established their second franchised team in May 2019 with the purchase of a slot for
In October 2019, Envy Gaming established their headquarters and training facility at Victory Park in Dallas. The 20,872 square feet (1,939.1 m2) will include space dedicated to team training, content creation, player development, and wellness training.[14]
On July 9, 2020, Envy Gaming appointed that Adam Rymer as the company's new
In November 2021, it was announced that Envy Gaming would acquire the OpTic Gaming brand as part of a merger. OpTic Gaming leader Hector "HECZ" Rodriguez joined the combined companies' ownership group and was to serve as President of OpTic Gaming. This also brought the OpTic Texas roster for Activision Blizzard's Call of Duty League into the Envy family.[16]
In January 2022, Envy Gaming acquired the operating contract for Esports Stadium Arlington, an esports facility located in Arlington, Texas, from Esports Venues LLC.[17]
In June 2022, it was announced Envy Gaming would retire the Envy brand, and fully become OpTic Gaming. The Envy Foundation, a grant program helping North Texas middle schools and high schools, became the OpTic Foundation. Team Envy's content creators and Rocket League team were rebranded to OpTic Gaming, while the Dallas Fuel team remained as is.[18][19]
Investors
Envy Gaming acquired several investors in 2017. In March, it was revealed that prior to becoming
In July 2018,
In August 2020, Post Malone acquired a minority stake, joining as a co-owner.[26][27]
References
- ^ Settimi, Christina (November 5, 2019). "'Awful Business' Or The New Gold Rush? The Most Valuable Companies In Esports Are Surging". Forbes. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
- ^ James, Ford (April 17, 2019). "History of CoD eSports: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare". Dot Esports. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
- ^ North Carolina Secretary of State (October 29, 2012), Articles of Organization of Envy Gaming, LLC, C2012 305 00359
- ^ North Carolina Secretary of State (June 15, 2016), Application for Certificate of Authority, C2016 194 00130
- ^ a b Garrett, Arnessa (September 18, 2017). "E-sports pioneer Team Envy announces relocation to Dallas after big investment from oil baron". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
- ^ Marshall, Cass (September 20, 2017). "Meet the final founding members of the Overwatch League". Heroes Never Die. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
- ^ Wolf, Jacob (August 6, 2017). "Blizzard to add Team EnVyUs as Austin-Dallas Overwatch League rep". ESPN. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
- Heroes Never Die. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
- ^ Carpenter, Nicole (October 5, 2017). "Team Envy's Overwatch League team will be called the Dallas Fuel". Dot Esports. Archived from the original on November 19, 2017. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
- ^ Fischer, Ben (June 28, 2018). "Sports Industry Veteran Geoff Moore to Join Envy Gaming as President". The Esports Observer. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
- ^ Vincent, Brittany (May 2, 2019). "Activision Sells First Five 'Call of Duty' Esports League Teams". Variety. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
- ^ Webb, Kevin (November 9, 2019). "Twelve teams reportedly paid $25 million each to join a new esports league around one of the biggest games in the world — here's everything you need to know about Call of Duty League". Business Insider. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
- ^ Magelssen, Tommy (October 19, 2019). "Dallas Empire branding for Envy Gaming's Call of Duty League team signals 'a new era' for a storied esports organization". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
- ^ Montes, Bianca (October 31, 2019). "Envy Gaming to Establish Esports Training Center and Headquarters in Dallas' Victory Park". D Magazine. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
- ^ Ajamy, David (July 10, 2020). "Dallas-based Envy Gaming names new CEO". Dallas Business Journal. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
- ^ Edwards, Alex (November 9, 2021). "OpTic Gaming Merges With Envy Gaming to Form a Combined North Texas Esports Powerhouse". Dallas Innovates. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
- ^ Swanger, Ben (January 13, 2022). "Dallas-based Envy Gaming Acquires Esports Stadium in Arlington". D Magazine. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
- ^ "Envy Gaming retires its esports brand, becomes OpTic Gaming". Dallas News. 2022-06-27. Retrieved 2022-06-27.
- Sports Business Journal. June 27, 2022. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
- ^ Dunn, Andrew (March 9, 2017). "Will this team become Charlotte's next major league sports franchise?". Charlotte Agenda. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
- ^ Carpenter, Nicole (September 18, 2017). "Team EnVyUs confirms eight-figure investment deal from oil magnate". Dot Esports. Archived from the original on October 22, 2017. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
- ^ Ring, Oliver (September 19, 2017). "Team EnVyUs confirm "multi eight figure investment" from Hersh Interactive Group". Esports Insider. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
- ^ Wolf, Jacob (December 16, 2017). "Poker pro Fedor Holz invests in Team Envy, Dallas Fuel". ESPN. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
- ^ Hollingsworth, David (July 19, 2018). "Preston Arsement partners with Team Envy". Esports Insider. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
- ^ Fischer, Ben (January 4, 2019). "Envy Gaming Raises $20M from External Investors". The Esports Observer. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
- ^ Webster, Andrew (2020-08-28). "Post Malone is now a co-owner of Texas' biggest esports teams". The Verge. Retrieved 2021-06-22.
- ^ Beresford, Trilby (2020-08-28). "Post Malone Takes Equity Stake in Envy Gaming (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2021-06-22.