Envy Gaming and OpTic Gaming are merged. Envy founder Mike Rufail and OpTic president Hector Rodriguez completed the deal and the announcement happened Monday.
Rufail and Rodriguez added more context to their own big career moves in a 37-minute podcast on YouTube. Call of Duty esports may have a new location for Envy. Content will ramp up, and both organizations, now together, will build off each other.
But there were still some good nuggets in there that provide a direction and explanation.
Here are three takeaways from Rufail and Hector’s conversation:
Eon Interactive was in Dallas
Rufial and Rodriguez have known each other for over a decade now. They met in Orlando in early 2008 when Call of Duty 4 was the current esport. Rufail and Rodriguez agreed it was hardly an esport at the time because they were playing on bean bags with poor internet connection.
But that’s where the relationship started. They tried to work together early into OpTic and Envy. That was Eon Interactive. It was an advertising agency with the goal of getting partnerships for both teams. More funding means a better future and wiggle room for ideas and esports dreams.
The timing wasn’t right.
“We tried to do something with Eon back then, but the reality was we were so busy with our own teams that we kind of just stopped working on the project altogether,” Rufail told The Dallas Morning News. “We were too busy running our own businesses.”
Those two had the big ideas part down, including flipping older buildings into esports stadiums with the best technology had to offer. That was ahead of its time, and there wasn’t a proven revenue model so they couldn’t get the funding.
The game changed.
OpTic gets its resources
A big criticism of this move has been that Envy removed itself from Call of Duty and totally embraced OpTic. That’s only half the truth. Rufail did confirm that the Dallas Empire brand is retired, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be used again in the future with another team.
Ex-Dallas Empire superstar and world champ James “Clayster” Eubanks wasn’t happy about the Empire’s disappearance. Maybe the merchandise being limited will make it a collector’s item.
Envy is still going to be the backbone of this whole operation. OpTic brings in the fancy lights and party hats with its content creation, brand recognition and poster boy in Call of Duty king Seth “Scump” Abner.
Those are more obvious changes. But Rodriguez did this deal with OpTic for a reason: the resources.
“What made it the most attractive to me whas knowing everybody from top to bottom from the investors to the operations,” Rodriguesz told The News. “Those were the most attractive things.”
Envy announced a $40 million investment period in March. Post Malone joined the ownership group in August 2020. North Texas oill magnate Ken Hersh and Hersh interactive group are what moved Envy to Dallas in 2017.
While the OpTic additions may be the more obvious ones, make no mistake that Envy is bringing plenty to the table.
It’s Mario & his little cuz @Shotzzy pic.twitter.com/qrIOp288vZ
— OpTic VALOHecZ (@H3CZ) November 9, 2021
Rodriguez is part of Envy leadership
Speaking of ownership, Rodriguez is on board at Envy now too. The deal solidified his position as a partner and part owner in Envy, which means he also has the ability to lift other Envy teams like the Dallas Fuel of the Overwatch League.
Some things won’t change much. Rufail and Rodriguez are leaning towards having OpTic Texas, the new CDL team from the merger, play from the Heczquarters in Frisco.
But the Envy HQ can still be utilized and Rodriguez brings a lot to the table with content creation, branding and building out young superstars.
The Fuel were one of the hottest teams in the Overwatch League, rebuilding a roster that finished third and made important acquisitions in the offseason to compete for another championship.
Rodriguez helping craft those players in front of the camera could boost their career trajectories as it has with other OpTic superstars.
Former Dallas Empire stars Anthony “Shotzzy” Cuevas-Castro and Indervir “iLLeY” Dhaliwal may not be the only winners from having OpTic around.
“It happens within the first 10 minutes of having a conversation with anyone, where I can make a clear determination on whether or not they would be good on camera,” Rodriguez said. “Step number one is to see what they are like, and then how do we get them out of their shells when the cameras come out.
“Luckily for me, both Shotzzy and iLLeY don’t have shells, so they are prepped and ready to go.”
There will be a lot more to learn about the merger as time goes on, but don’t ignore the small details. Those matter.
