Oceanic esports org ORDER enters administration one year after $5.3m investment
@ordergaming_gg on Twitter The ORDER organization has reportedly entered voluntary administration, after a funding round in 2021 was insufficient to keep it afloat.
ORDER, once one of the largest esports organizations in the Oceanic region, have run out of money and entered voluntary administration, according to a report by The Australian.
One of the most successful esports organizations in the OCE region, ORDER raised $5.3m AUD, or $3.69m USD, in capital last year. They also hired appointed former Melbourne Football Club executive Marc Edwards as the company’s CEO. Edwards has deactivated all social media after the announcement of ORDER’s collapse.
What went wrong for ORDER
ORDER have consistently been one of the highest-performing esports orgs in the OCE region., The 2021 fundraising round was their second – they had also raised $360,000 through crowdfunding in late 2018.
Their most notable rosters included teams in League of Legends and CS:GO – and, according to Swan’s report, the CS:GO team was paid “as much as $750,000 annually”, a number which is “far higher than that paid by other local esports teams.”
Numerous members of staff have begun looking for other opportunities, including Chief Gaming Officer Chris ‘GoMeZ’ Orfanellis. However, former Head of Events Josh Swift confirmed in a tweet that employees will remain employed by ORDER until the end of the administration period.
What happens now
ORDER’s future, and the future of their multiple esports teams, is uncertain.
Graeme du Toit, head of sales and marketing at ESL Australia, has confirmed that ORDER’s League of Legends roster will continue to compete in the LCO Split 2 playoffs. He stated that “fans who have already purchased a ticket to watch the team will still have the opportunity to cheer them on”, despite the org entering administration.
The future of their remaining esports teams is, as yet, unclear. Their CS:GO roster recently failed to make it out of play-ins at IEM Cologne. Only two days before the report of their entry into voluntary administration, the organization signed rifler Declan ‘Vexite’ Portelli on August 15.
With Vexite, the team secured a spot in the closed qualifiers for the Oceanic RMR, bringing themselves one step closer to qualifying for the IEM Rio Major later this year. However, it’s unclear whether they will continue to compete under ORDER’s name.
