Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, the company was founded in February 1991 as Silicon & Synapse, Inc. by three graduates of the University of California, Los Angeles: Michael Morhaime, Frank Pearce and Allen Adham. The company originally concentrated on the creation of game ports for other studios' games before beginning development of their own software in 1993, with games like Rock n' Roll Racing and The Lost Vikings. In 1993, the company became Chaos Studios, Inc., and then Blizzard Entertainment soon after being acquired by distributor Davidson & Associates early in the following year. Shortly after, Blizzard released Warcraft: Orcs & Humans.
Howard Peter Guber is an American film producer, business executive, entrepreneur, educator, and author. He is chairman and CEO of Mandalay Entertainment. Guber's most recent films from Mandalay Entertainment include The Kids Are All Right, Soul Surfer and Bernie. He has also produced Rain Man, Batman, The Color Purple, Midnight Express, Gorillas in the Mist, The Witches of Eastwick, Missing, and Flashdance. Guber's films have grossed over $3 billion worldwide and received 50 Academy Award nominations.
The Sony Corporation of America is the American arm of the Japanese multinational conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. Headquartered in New York City, the company manages Sony's business in the United States.
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE) is an American sports and entertainment holding company based in Denver, Colorado. Originally known as Kroenke Sports Enterprises, it was started in 1999 by businessman Stan Kroenke to be the parent company of his sports holdings. Today, the company has control of over five professional sport franchises, and one football club that has two teams: Arsenal F.C. and Arsenal W.F.C., four stadiums, two professional esports franchised teams, four television channels, an internet TV channel, & 19 magazines which operate under the badge Outdoor Sportsman Group, four radio stations which operate under the badge KSE Radio Ventures, LLC, and websites.
Made in Brazil, commonly referred as abbreviated name MIBR is a professional esports organization with players competing in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive,Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege and VALORANT. It was a member of the G7 Teams. MIBR was founded on March 1, 2003, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, when the Brazilian businessman Paulo Velloso decided to invest in his son's dream. The organization was dissolved in 2012, but announced it was making a return in March 2016, returning to active play years later in June 2018.
Riot Games, Inc. is an American video game developer, publisher, and esports tournament organizer based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in September 2006 by Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill to develop League of Legends and went on to develop several spin-off games and the unrelated first-person shooter game Valorant. In 2011, Riot Games was acquired by Chinese conglomerate Tencent. Its publishing arm, Riot Forge, oversaw the production of League of Legends spin-offs by other developers until its shutdown in January 2024. The company worked with Fortiche to release Arcane, a television series based on the League of Legends universe.
Cloud9 Esports, Inc., or simply Cloud9 (C9), is an American professional esports company based in Santa Monica, California. The company was originally founded as a professional League of Legends team by Jack and Paullie Etienne in May 2013 and was incorporated into Cloud9 Esports, Inc. on September 6, 2016. Cloud9 has received US$78 million in total raised equity via venture capital funding and was ranked the world's fifth-most valuable esports organization in mid-2022.
OpTic Gaming is an American professional esports and entertainment organization headquartered in Frisco, Texas. The organization currently operates a Call of Duty team in the Call of Duty League, OpTic Texas, they also operate a Overwatch team in the Overwatch League, Dallas Fuel, as well as Rocket League, and Halo teams. They previously competed in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Gears of War 4, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, Fortnite Battle Royale, Dota 2, League of Legends, Valorant, and Apex Legends. The organization is currently owned by Hector "H3CZ" Rodriguez and Mike “Hastr0” Rufail.
Team 8 was a professional League of Legends team that competed in the North American League of Legends Championship Series. On October 7, 2015, Team 8's spot was acquired by Immortals, which began competing under the new name starting with the 2016 Spring LCS.
Immortals is a professional esports organization based in the United States owned by Immortals Gaming Club. It was founded on October 7, 2015, after the acquisition of Team 8's LCS spot.
100 Thieves, LLC is an American lifestyle brand and gaming organization based in Los Angeles, California, founded in 2017 by Matthew "Nadeshot" Haag. The organization competes in several video games, including Call of Duty, League of Legends and Valorant. They currently operate three franchise teams, in the League Championship Series (LCS), Valorant Americas League and Call of Duty League.
The Overwatch League (OWL) was a professional esports league for the video game Overwatch, produced by its developer, Blizzard Entertainment. From 2018 to 2023, the Overwatch League followed the model of other traditional North American professional sporting leagues by using a set of permanent, city-based teams backed by separate ownership groups. The league used the regular season and playoffs format rather than promotion and relegation used commonly in other esports and non-North American leagues, with players on the roster being assured a minimum annual salary, benefits, and a portion of winnings and revenue-sharing based on team performance.
Jacky "Jake" Yip, better known as Stewie2K, is an American streamer and professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player. As a member of Cloud9, he became the first North American to win a Valve–sponsored major in CS:GO.
The Los Angeles Gladiators are an American professional Overwatch esports team based in Los Angeles, California. The Gladiators compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's West region. Founded in 2017, the Los Angeles Gladiators are one of twelve founding members of the OWL and are one of two professional Overwatch teams based in Los Angeles. The team is owned by Stan Kroenke and Josh Kroenke of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, who also owns Gladiators Legion, an academy team for Los Angeles that competed in Overwatch Contenders.
Jens Hilgers is a German entrepreneur who works in the esports industry. He was the founding CEO of the esports production company Electronic Sports League (ESL), and is a co-founder and the CEO of Bayes, an esports data company based in Berlin. In 2014, he co-founded G2 Esports together with Carlos "Ocelot" Rodriguez, and currently serves as its chairman. He is also the founding general partner of BITKRAFT Ventures, a global early and mid-stage investment platform for gaming, esports, and a new technology named Web3. He has been credited as an early pioneer of the esports industry.
Los Angeles Valiant is an American professional Overwatch esports team representing the city of Los Angeles, California. Valiant compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's West region. Founded in 2017, Los Angeles Valiant is one of twelve founding members of the OWL and one of two professional Overwatch teams based in Los Angeles.
The Houston Outlaws are an American professional Overwatch esports team based in Houston, Texas. The Outlaws compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's West region.
The 2019 Overwatch League season was the second season of the Overwatch League (OWL), an esport based on the video game Overwatch. The league expanded from 12 teams from the inaugural season to 20 teams. Of the eight new teams, two were from the United States, two were from Canada, one was from France, and three were from China.
The 2019 Houston Outlaws season was the second season of the Houston Outlaws's existence in the Overwatch League (OWL) and their second under head coach Tae-yeong Kim. After finishing 22–18 the previous season, the Outlaws were looking to improve on their record and qualify for the season playoffs for the first time.
The 2020 Houston Outlaws season is the third season of the Houston Outlaws's existence in the Overwatch League (OWL). The Outlaws planned to host two homestand weekends at the Revention Music Center in Houston's downtown Theater District. While their first homestand took place, all other homestand matches were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
