After just over a year, Hector ‘H3cz’ Rodriguez has once again taken ownership of OpTic Gaming from Immortals Gaming Club (IGC) after having been acquired by Infinite Esports & Entertainment [OpTic Gaming’s Parent Company] in a takeover by IGC in mid-June 2019.
Having helmed the organisation since 2007, after being established in 2006, starting as a small gaming team that has now won several world championships, and as of today becoming a massive enterprise consisting of multimedia projects and multiple major league gaming teams across the globe. OpTic is well regarded close to the hearts of many Esports fans, with the organisation having a large and loyal following, known as the ‘Green Wall’. When OpTic was acquired by IGC in 2019, Hector left the organisation as his new position within the organisation would have likely found him acting in limited means, a far cry from his previous position as CEO. The acquisition had also undone everything that Hector had achieved through diversifying and expanding the organisation, as Immortals following the acquisition sold off many other counterparts of the organisation to focus on Call of Duty. Daily eSports in May 2019 reported that Hector had reportedly tried and sadly failed to independently buy OpTic Gaming, and by extension IGC before the acquisition by Immortals, who bought them from Texas Rangers co-owners Neil Leibman and Ray Davis for over $100 Million; an industry first. Following this loss, Hector told Jake Chamseddine “I’m gonna get it back, just watch”.
After leaving Immortals, Hector, one of the biggest figureheads in Esports, joined NRG Esports as co-CEO alongside founder Andy Miller, in the later months of 2019, regularly creating content and helming the Chicago Huntsmen. It is unclear where Hector now stands with NRG as the acquisition of the OpTic Gaming IP contains franchise slots for the Los Angeles Call of Duty League – which are rumoured to have been sold to 100 Thieves, co-owned by ex-OpTic captain and founder/CEO Matthew Haag, known as Nadeshot and seemingly confirmed by the announcement of the ‘Los Angeles Thieves’.
For the last few months, NRG has seen the acquisition of many previous OpTic personalities such as Will ‘BigTymer’ Johnson, retired professional player, current Stock Trader and owner of GreenWallSt, a programme teaches how to trade in stocks, Marcus ‘MboZe’ Blanks Jr, retired professional player, Nick ‘MaNiaC’ Kershner, a retired Halo pro under OpTic Halo and Davis ‘Hitch’ Edwards, a well known content creator, game commentator/host, videographer and co-owner of Team Summertime also previously under the OpTic Gaming IP.
The above NRG acquisitions under Hector Rodriguez as co-CEO alongside his newfound ownership and re-acquisition of the OpTic Gaming IP that have said to have been in the works for months, looks to be shaping up as a new and comforting breath of life for the industry, with one of the industries most recognisable figures returning to home.
Hector is OpTic, OpTic is Hector, and Hector is home. #GreenWall