At the end of 2021, the two well-known eSports clans Envy and OpTic Gaming merged. The original plan was to pool resources and keep both brands running and expand their reach.
In the meantime, however, the companies' executives have come to the conclusion that they want to launch under one label in the future. All but one of the previous Envy lineups will play under OpTic Gaming in the future. Envy will become OpTic.
Some teams already playing under the OpTic logo
The announcement of the final name change came Monday on the Eavesdrop podcasts from OpTic founder Hector “H3CZ” Rodriguez and Envy founder Mike “hastr0.” They said they felt it no longer made sense to run both brands side-by-side in the future. Some teams of Envy had already changed under the umbrella of OpTic Gaming at the end of last year, others had kept the old label for the time being.
The OpTic Texas team in Call of Duty, for example, is made up entirely of former Envy players. The same is true for the OpTic Valorant team. The next, current name change will be for the Rocket line-up, which already has the next games in front of the chest this week.
Abandonment of Envy always an option
Mike “hastr0” explained that it has become apparent that dual branding ultimately hurts both eSports organizations. Sharing resources had not brought the success envisioned. Although Envy was to be retained, “hastr0” had always had the ulterior motive of abandoning his label.
The eSports label Envy – which was once known as EnVyUs – has a long-standing tradition and a very stable fan base. “hastr0” is aware of the situation, but in the end still finally decided to change the name of his teams.
“There are people with tattoos of our logo. There are fans out there who have supported us for almost 15 years, and I think about those people all the time. But at the same time, we have to survive. This business has to continue to survive… I'm the one who is more connected to the Envy brand than anyone else, but I think it's time we put all of our resources into one brand,” “hastr0” said.
Envy will become OpTic – with one exception.
One exception will remain. The Dallas Fuel, who play in the Overwatch League and are part of Envy, will keep their brand. They are considered a successful brand in their own right within the organization. Not only do they have athletic success in the Overwatch League, but they have one of the largest fan communities. It wouldn't make sense from a business perspective to give up Dallas Fuel.
But that's where it will stay. All other teams will carry the OpTic Gaming logo. The branding should be reflected to the maximum. This means that not only the players, but the entire content creator will be involved in the change. The previous Envy streamers will probably also work for OpTic Gaming, although this has not yet been officially confirmed. Specifically, we're talking about the chess siblings Alexandra and Andrea Botez as well as Just Chatting mainstay Justaminx.
In conclusion, it can be said that the name change and thus the abandonment of Envy is ultimately only the logical consequence of the merger. Although the current statement from Hector “H3CZ” Rodriguez and Mike “hastr0” came as a bit of a surprise, there had been speculation about this move in the scene for some time.
