Spanish giants KOI enter LEC through Rogue partnership
KOIKOI and Rogue have announced their partnership on October 6, after months of reporting that the two were set to combine forces, which has led to the Spanish organization taking over Rogue’s LEC spot.
KOI, founded by Ibai Llanos, one of the most popular Twitch streamers in the world, and former football player Gerard Piqué, has officially partnered with Rogue and the company’s parent company Infinite Reality.
Ibai announced via his Twitch stream that the organization would be joining the LEC in a direct address to his viewers and in a skit involving other streamers. In the skit, Ibai and the other streamers reminisce about old times while playing older versions of themselves while Ibai shows them photos from the past. They repeatedly ask when they joined the LEC when a Rogue executive shows up and places the photo in front of them.
Rogue announced the partnership on its website and also said that the two companies will have additional ventures into the metaverse like having the two high-profile KOI founders appear in the virtual space and hold live events along with other brand activations and real-life merchandise.
KOI finally joins the LEC
It was initially reported that KOI was buying part-ownership of Rogue’s LEC spot back in August. The deal was reportedly priced at $60 million of 60% of Rogue’s LEC ownership.
Rogue shopped around the LEC spot to other organizations, notably French juggernaut Karmine Corp., and settled on the Spanish company. The staff and players on Rogue will not be impacted initially by the business transaction according to a report on the deal.
Rogue has one of the top LEC teams this year as the team is the European No. 1 seed at the League of Legends 2022 World Championships. The team placed first and second in the LEC across the spring and summer regular seasons respectively.
The deal is still pending Riot Games’ approval.
Rogue currently operated esports teams in Call of Duty, Rocket League, Rainbow Six, and their LEC team while KOI has teams in the LVP SuperLiga and the top Valorant league. KOI also announced that the organization will jump into Rocket League, Rainbow Six and Call of Duty.
