Fan Token Firm Chiliz Acquires 2-Time ‘Dota 2’ Champions, OG Esports

The Chiliz Group, which operates the Socios.com crypto fan token platform, introduced Tuesday that it has acquired a 51% controlling stake in OG Esports, the aggressive gaming group based in 2015 by Dota 2 legends Johan “nOtail” Sundstein and Sébastien “Ceb” Debs.

OG made historical past as the primary workforce to win consecutive titles at The Worldwide—the annual, high-profile Dota 2 world championship match—in 2018 and 2019, and has since expanded into a number of video games together with Counter-Strike, Honor of Kings, and Marvel Rivals.

The workforce was additionally the primary esports group to hitch the Socios platform with the 2020 debut of its own fan token, which Chiliz mentioned just lately turned the primary esports workforce token to exceed a $100 million market capitalization.

OG was just lately priced at $16.88, up almost 9% on the day following the announcement. The token’s value peaked at a brand new all-time excessive of $24.78 final week forward of The Worldwide 2025, the place OG didn’t compete this 12 months.

Following the acquisition, Xavier Oswald will assume the CEO position, whereas the co-founders will flip their consideration to “a brand new strategic mission consolidating the workforce’s aggressive basis [and] driving innovation on the intersection of esports and Web3,” per a press launch.

No additional particulars had been offered concerning that mission.

“Bringing OG into the Chiliz Group is a serious step towards additional strengthening fan experiences, one the place the group doesn’t simply watch from the sidelines however will get to form the journey,” Chiliz CEO Alex Dreyfus advised Decrypt. “With the workforce’s legacy, founders like Johan and Ceb nonetheless entrance and heart, and a digitally native fanbase, we now have the proper basis to discover a next-gen mannequin for esports engagement.”

“Working with the OG founders, we are going to discover making the $OG store a window [into] what fan tokens can convey to fan communities,” he added. “That might imply token-based governance, NFT ticketing, unique drops, or on-chain loyalty programs, and presumably even progressive concepts like tying buybacks to workforce income and match prizes.”

OG at the moment has the very best market cap of any fan token on the Socios.com platform, in accordance with information from CoinGecko. Socios has additionally launched official tokens tied to conventional sports activities giants like Juventus, FC Barcelona, and Paris Saint-Germain F.C., together with the UFC preventing league.

Socios.com will function the unique platform for OG fan tokens, positioning the token for example of the evolving fan economic system that integrates real-world property, merchandise, and membership revenues.

“We’re nonetheless early on this partnership, however the purpose is evident: to align OG’s aggressive success with actual, on-chain worth for his or her world fanbase,” mentioned Dreyfus. “That is the place esports and Web3 can really come collectively.”