![]() | |
Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Esports |
Founded | 2007 |
Defunct | 2022 |
Fate | Merged with OpTic Gaming |
Headquarters | Dallas, Texas , United States |
Key people | |
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.
Envy Gaming was originally founded by Tosh "Stainville" Mcgruder and Skyler "Foreplayy" Johnson as a professional Call of Duty 4 team in 2007, known as Team EnVyUs. The team brought on Mike "Hastr0" Rufail in 2009 as a team member; Rufail would eventually become the team's owner. [2] Envy Gaming, LLC was officially established in North Carolina on October 31, 2012. [3] The company was officially incorporated on May 25, 2016, as Envy Gaming, Inc. [4]
After a reportedly US$35 million investment from Hersh Interactive Group in September 2017, Envy Gaming relocated their headquarters from Charlotte, North Carolina to Dallas, Texas. [5] The deal also allowed Envy to purchase the Dallas-based Overwatch League franchise spot for an estimated US$20 million, making them one of twelve teams competing in the league's inaugural season. [6] [7] Envy Gaming filled the roster by transferring all of the members and staff from the Overwatch team of Team EnVyUs, which officially ended EnVyUs' Overwatch division. [8] On October 5, 2017, the Dallas-based franchise name was revealed as the Dallas Fuel. [9]
On June 28, 2018, Envy Gaming hired former COO for the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) and EVP of sales and marketing for the Dallas Stars Geoff Moore as its first President and COO. [10]
Envy established their second franchised team in May 2019 with the purchase of a slot for Activision's Call of Duty League for a reported US$25 million. [11] [12] The team's name, Dallas Empire, and branding were revealed on October 19 and chosen as a callback to the organization's roots. [13]
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 CEO, replacing founder and owner Mike Rufail. [15]
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]
Envy Gaming acquired several investors in 2017. In March, it was revealed that prior to becoming chief business officer of Team Envy, John Brock had invested a seven-figure sum into the team. [20] Months later, in September, Team Envy owner Mike Rufail confirmed that the organization had secured a reportedly US$35 million investment from Hersh Interactive Group. The deal entailed Hersh serving as strategic partners to the organization, whilst Rufail would remain as the principal owner and operator of the team. [5] [21] [22] Two months later, World Series of Poker High Roller winner Fedor Holz invested in Envy Gaming to become a minority owner. [23]
In July 2018, Preston Arsement, known as the YouTube personality PrestonPlayz, joined Envy Gaming as an investor and content creator. [24] In January 2019, Envy announced it had raised US$20 million in external capital; they did not reveal the identity of the investors and only described them as "a mix of prominent local investors and Texas families, as well as a select set of national investors." [25]
In August 2020, Post Malone acquired a minority stake, joining as a co-owner. [26] [27]
Kenneth A. Hersh is an American businessman and financier. He is the former chairman and CEO of NGP Energy Capital Management (NGP), a private equity firm based in Texas. He is the CEO of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas.
Matthew Haag, better known as Nadeshot, is an American former professional Call of Duty player and the founder, co-owner and CEO of 100 Thieves. As a professional Call of Duty player, Haag was a former captain of OpTic Gaming in the 2014 Call of Duty: Ghosts season and the 2014–2015 Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare season, playing the objective support role.
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, Halo and Apex Legends teams. They previously competed in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Gears of War 4, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, Fortnite Battle Royale, Dota 2, League of Legends and Valorant. The organization is currently owned by Hector "H3CZ" Rodriguez and Mike “Hastr0” Rufail.
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Team Envy was an American esports franchise based in Dallas, Texas, owned by Envy Gaming. Founded in 2007 as a professional Call of Duty team under the moniker Team EnVyUs, they fielded rosters in Counter-Strike, FIFA, Fortnite, Gears of War, Halo, League of Legends, Chess, Magic: the Gathering, Overwatch, Paladins, PUBG, Rocket League, SMITE, StarCraft, Super Smash Bros., Street Fighter and Valorant. Following the merger between Envy Gaming and OpTic Gaming, Envy Gaming retired the Team Envy brand in June 2022, shifting all of them to the OpTic Gaming moniker.
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Damon Barlow, better known as Karma, is a Canadian-American professional Call of Duty coach and former player. He is currently the head coach for OpTic Texas. He is the first three-time Call of Duty Championship winner, winning back-to-back titles in 2013 & 2014, and also in 2017, with Fariko Impact, compLexity Gaming, and OpTic Gaming respectively. He is also a Major League Gaming (MLG) X Games 2015 gold medalist, with OpTic Gaming. Karma joined OpTic replacing outgoing captain Matt "Nadeshot" Haag on the team. He is a naturalized American citizen. As of May 2020, Karma has won $815,087.25 from tournament winnings, making him the player to have earned the fifth most total prize money playing professional Call of Duty, and making him the player to have earned the fifth most total prize money playing any professional console game. He also runs an active YouTube channel.
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.
Dallas Fuel is an American professional Overwatch team based in Dallas, Texas. The Fuel compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's East region.
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.
Brandon Larned, better known as Seagull, is an American video game streamer and retired professional Overwatch player. Early in the game's history, Larned established himself as one of the most popular Overwatch streamers on Twitch. As an esports competitor, Larned represented Luminosity Gaming and then NRG Esports, before leaving the active roster of the latter to resume streaming full-time. He returned to competitive play with Team EnVyUs shortly before its roster became the Dallas Fuel, one of the teams in the newly launched Overwatch League. At the end of the League's inaugural season, Larned once again announced that he would be stepping away from competitive play in favor of being a full-time streamer.
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The Team Envy Overwatch team represented Team Envy, an American esports franchise, in the video game Overwatch. Originally competing under the name Team EnVyUs, the team won multiple regional and international competitions before being transferred to the Dallas Fuel franchise of the Overwatch League (OWL) by their parent organization, Envy Gaming. The franchise reestablished its Overwatch division in 2018 and currently competes in the North America West region of Overwatch Contenders (OWC) as an academy team for the Dallas Fuel. The division disbanded in April 2020.
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OpTic Texas is an American professional Call of Duty League (CDL) esports team based in Dallas, Texas. OpTic Texas is owned by OpTic Gaming. Dallas was announced as one of the first five cities to host a CDL team.
The Call of Duty League (CDL) is a professional esports league for the video game series Call of Duty, produced by its publisher Activision. The Call of Duty League follows the model of the Overwatch League as well as other traditional North American professional sporting leagues by using a set of permanent, city-based teams backed by separate ownership groups. In addition, the league plays in a tournament point system and playoffs format rather than the use of 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 how that team performs. The League was announced in 2019 with its inaugural season starting in 2020.
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