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OG Esports, an European esports franchise, has signed a strategic partnership with LDN UTD, a UK-based esports organization. LDN UTD, a newly developed esports company with teams in League of Legends, Fortnite, FIFA, and Valorant, has agreed to a partnership with the 6 years old OG Esports.
Both organizations are set to go into a joint venture with the LDN UTD’s Valorant team being revamped to OG LDN UTD and performing as one entity. Since March 2021, LDN UTD has been involved in Valorant, and its team of mostly Lithuanian players qualified for the VCT EMEA Challengers in Stage 1 of the league.
Upon retaining its Valorant Champion Tour (VCT) status, the OG LDN UTD team will compete in the VCT Challengers Stage beginning May 13, with every player to wear co-branded OG LDN UTD jerseys to signify the recent partnership.
The partnership will see both franchises pool resources together for players’ aid and performance boosters. Both organizations will also be focusing on community development and joint activities, some of which will be done at the headquarters of LDN UTD, the Centre Of Excellence, Camden Town, London.
OG Esports has announced that it will run its existing French roster till the end of the season. The team is scheduled to participate in Valorant’s French regional tournament.
CEO of OG Esports, JMR Luna addressed the joint-venture and describes the partnership with LDN UTD as ‘a perfect match.’ He also shared that their community-driven structure was a great pull to getting the partnership solidified.
“Very rarely do we have a chance to work with another value-driven company and in LDN UTD we have found a perfect match.”
“We love their community-driven initiatives and what they are building, so when we all sat down together and spoke, we became very excited about this adventure together. We think they have done a very good job building and nurturing this project and we hope we can contribute to its success this new season.”
The leads of LDN UTD also did not hesitate to express their admiration of OG Esports and their excitement about the partnership.
“OG’s reputation in esports is well earned and highly respected, and through this unique partnership we will be able to continue to support our existing Valorant team and give them the best chance of pursuing success and fulfilling their ambition,” CEO LDN UTD Oliver Weingarten said. “We look forward to working closely with OG to grow the community and host engaging, joint events with them in London that further our ethos.”
“I’m so excited for LDN UTD to work with an organization that aligns with our values, to enhance our Valorant competitiveness, and I’ve no doubt alongside Johan, Seb, JMR, and the OG team we are going to create some great content that the community will love,” Connor Ball, Co-owner LDN UTD also stated.
The organizations revealed that the team’s regular day-to-day activities will still be maintained by LDN UTD, specifically handled by its Head of Esports, Ali “Rezi” Rashid, and Mike Schwartz, OG’s Head of Esports.
The LDN UTD coach Tommaso “JoYnt” and OG analyst Tyler “Bambino” Jay, will maintain their roles. Likewise, the schedule for OG LDN UTD will follow suit with the LDN UTD existing roaster of Ričardas “Boo” Lukaševičius, Lukas “feqew” Petrauskas, Tomas “Destrian” Linikas, and Michał “MOLSI” Łącki. Replacement for the inactive Aurimas “Dreamas” Zablockis will be former Alliance man, Tautvydas “hype” Paldavicius.
Joint-venture partnerships are fast becoming popular within the esports space, with the core aim of penetrating new markets or regions. In 2018, PSG joined with Chinese Dota 2 organization LGD Gaming to form PSG LGD. PSG also returned to League of Legends in 2020, forming the PSG Talon brand in collaboration with Hong Kong-based Talon Esports.
