Having risen to prominence in the late 2000s and early 2010s, the group is arguably most famous for having a Call of Duty team that participates in various competitions against other eSports teams.
In recent years, the organization has branched out into other games, like Halo and Valorant, having also played Fortnite, PUBG, Counterstrike: Global Offensive and others at various points in their history.
The organization is now, based on social media following, the third most popular eSports team in the world, but exactly who are OpTic, and where did they come from?
In this article we’ll look at the history of OpTic, how much the organization is worth, how they make their money, and note some of their best wins.
The History Of OpTic Gaming: Beginnings
OpTic Gaming was founded in 2006 by “OpTic Kr3w” and Ryan Musselman, two members of a pre-existing Call of Duty team.
The original purpose of the group was to be a dedicated Call of Duty sniping team, featuring some of the best COD snipers around. The early months of the organization were ones of upheaval.
Musselman, otherwise known as “OpTic J”, took over the leadership for a short while before eventually handing control to Hector Rodriquez, “H3CZ”, in 2007.
A few years later, the group took part in its first competitive gaming competition, playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on the Xbox 360.
In their inaugural 2009-10 season OpTic finished 8th in the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 National Championships and 4th in the MLG (Major League Gaming) National Championship Tournament during the season (2009-10), earning $500 at the conclusion.
Despite repeated changes to the roster over the next few years, OpTic soon became one of the most formidable competitive Call of Duty teams on the eSports circuit.
In the 2011-12 season OpTic won $400,000 and the trophy in an Activision sponsored competition to promote Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.
By 2014, OpTic had won their first MLG championship, taking the top spot at the MLG X championships in Austin. One of their players, Matt Haag aka“NaDeSHoT” was voted by fans as the Game Awards 2014 eSports Player of the Year.
OpTic enjoyed similar success the following season: at the Call of Duty Championships of March 27-29th the team announced a long-awaited sponsorship deal with Red Bull, after the energy drinks giant had previously individually sponsored “NaDeSHot” and “FlameSword”.
The History Of OpTic Gaming: Evolution
OpTic’s popularity and fame went up another notch in 2016 with the publication of a book that charted their rise to greatness in the world of eSports.
Former eSports commentator Ryan “Fwiz” Wyatt’s book, ‘OpTic Gaming: The Making of eSports Champions’ became a New York Times best-seller, and the interest generated attracted investment from Texas Rangers co-owner Neil Leibman and Chris Chaney.
Not only that, but rights for a television program and a feature film were also sold, to John Sacchi and Matt Groesch.
Several restructures and changes of ownership followed in the following years. Hector “H3CZ” Rodriguez left his position as CEO in September 2019 to become co-CEO of NRG Esports.
In the aftermath, “NaDeSHot”, who by this time had left OpTic due to a string of poor performances, acquired OpTic’s Call of Duty League slot and rebranded the team as the Los Angeles Thieves.
Within days, Rodriguez had agreed a deal with OpTic’s parent company to regain full ownership of the organization and the rights to the OpTic gaming brand.
Shortly thereafter, the Chicago Huntsmen team was rebranded as OpTic Chicago, marking the return of OpTic to the competitive Call of Duty scene after a brief hiatus.
How Much Is OpTic Worth?
Not only is OpTic a successful eSports team, but it is also a lucrative business in their own right.
This is evidenced by the sheer amount of money paid out by Immortals Gaming Club to buy the parent company, Infinite eSports, from Leibman and Chaney.
Immortals Gaming Club announced the acquisition of OpTic Gaming on June 12th 2019, with the successful conclusion of the deal for Infinite eSports.
The purchase cost more than $100 million. It was the biggest ever change of ownership in eSports history, establishing Immortals Gaming Club as one of the world’s largest eSports organizations.
OpTic themselves aren’t worth quite that much, however. As of May 2022, OpTic is worth approximately $10 million.
How Do OpTic Make Money?
OpTic has two main revenue streams. The first and most obvious is prize money.
At each of the tournaments that OpTic competes in there is a prize pot, with sums of money being awarded not just to the winners (the grand prize) but also to runners-up and other placed participants.
These prizes can comfortably run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The other principal way OpTic makes its money is through sponsorship deals with major companies. The most notable company is Red Bull.
An example of OpTic’s partnership with Red Bull is OpTic Gaming: Behind the Green Wall, a short documentary series produced by Red Bull in 2017.
Notable Achievements
Finally, a very brief rundown of some of OpTic’s best achievements, from most recent to oldest:
1st- CWL Las Vegas Open, 2019
1st- Call of Duty League World Championships, 2017
1st- CWL Global Pro League 2017 Stage 2 Playoffs, 2017
1st- MLG World Finals, 2015
1st- -MLG X Games Invitational, 2014
1st -Call of Duty XP 2011
Summary
The OpTic organization is a highly popular and successful eSports organization that rose to prominence in the early 2010s playing Call of Duty.
They quickly became one of the best teams on the circuit, with “NaDeSHot” and others shooting the team to their first MLG Championship in 2014.
The group was widely publicized thanks to the publication of a best-selling book about them in 2016, resulting in a multi-million dollar change of ownership.
Despite upheaval and changes of ownership since, the OpTic Organization is still worth $10 million.
My name is Ashley Newby and I want to put integrity back into esports and get the hype surrounding them paramount once more. During my teenage years, I happened to stumble across a Street Fighter tournament online and I was hooked.
From that day, I have kept up with and watched many tournaments including Valorant, Super Smash Bros, and League of Legends. I even got to compete in my first one earlier this year!
