OpTic are struggling.
Nine months after re-claiming his beloved brainchild, Hector Rodriguez is preparing for another change involving the OpTic brand. Tension between Rodriguez and NRG is beginning to reach the public eye. And once again, the Green Wall is left scratching their heads.
A story that once felt like a fairytale in the making is instead continuing the tragic tale of OpTic.
Its Been a Long Time
It hasn’t been “6050 Russell Drive” OpTic for a very long time.
In 2017, OpTic Gaming wasn’t in the best spot.
While their Call of Duty team would be at its peak, it was the rest of their esports divisions that were beginning to turn. Realizing that the organization could not be a one-title organization, Rodriguez and company were investing in other esports: Halo, Counter Strike, Gears of War. The teams would perform exceptionally well at the their respective peaks. The costs of entering the space were beginning to add up. And along with the general pressure of having more teams to be involved in, it was a lot to manage.
OpTic needed a change and it would come with every esports organization’s favorite words: selling equity. Given that OpTic was falling behind some of the top organizations in North America, Rodriguez would part ways with a majority stake in the company. More importantly, he was beginning to hand over the reigns of control – looking to spend more time focusing on creating content. The pressure of growth in esports would be put onto Ryan “OpTic J” Musselman. What would happen in the following months would be one of the most disgusting media jobs in esports history.
“Hector Rodriguez is OpTic”
The story about Infinite Esports and Immortals Gaming Club has already been told. It is relatively understood that the OpTic brand is reliant on its founder and visionary – similar to Dave Portnoy’s importance to the Barstool Sports brand.
As Rodriguez became less involved – once again more focused on content creation – slowly OpTic was becoming something different: a competent esports organization. They would make investments into new esports titles such as League of Legends, Dota 2, Overwatch – all of which were seeing a massive amount of investment into profitability. While creatively speaking, the content was seeing a reduction in quality outside of the excellent Vision series, it was being sold more. Everything wasn’t glorious as Infinite Esports made questionable decisions in developing out the foundation of operations. But it was much more realistic than 2017.
Rodriguez would look to regain control of the company, but it wasn’t a simple process. As he had sold a majority stake in the company, re-entering the picture was a tough job even as a senior executive of the company. The power struggle would be framed through the respective of its content creators – with voices defending the original OpTic core being blasted to the world and Infinite Esports would be labeled as criminals. The large paycheck Rodriguez received came to haunt him.
Once Infinite sold OpTic to Immortals Gaming Club – who were primarily interested in the LCS franchise spot – Rodriguez would continue to be on the outs and would exit the company. Following the leader, members of his “Heczquarters” group would also depart in public fashion.
And suddenly, OpTic was kind of dead.
What We Should Have Learned in the Down-Time
Between September 15 of 2019 and November 12, 2020, we were left to see what Hector Rodriguez could accomplish in a different situation. Joining NRG as co-CEO to Andy Miller, he was expected to help lift the company from a niche following into a household North American organization.
He didn’t do that.
He would help with the operations of NRG’s acquired Chicago franchise in the Call of Duty League, playing an active managerial role in the operations of the league as he had always done. Content still remains his focus – creating excellent content like The Eavesdrop Podcast. But it never felt as if NRG was in the forefront of discussions. Because of their investments, the name wasn’t the headline. It would either be Chicago Huntsmen or Hector Rodriguez. However, they would do an excellent job developing a content creation team. The only problem was the clear separation between NRG content creators and Rodrgiez’s content creators.
When they would assist in the acquiring of the OpTic IP in November of 2020, it dug that grave even more. Rodriguez was immediately back to being OpTic H3CZ. Immediately, the core group of old OpTic members were returning home.
That’s what doesn’t sit right. When Hector Rodriguez joined NRG, it wasn’t about NRG. It was always about him. In hindsight, it is somewhat funny to think about his announcement of joining NRG. It came at the end of an emotional story regarding his departure. A five-second window of him putting on a NRG hoodie.
A Return to the Old Ways Isn’t Always a Good Thing
Since re-gaining the OpTic Gaming IP, it hasn’t really been eventful. A few shirt sales, a few names changes. An announced collaboration with FaZe Clanfor apparel gets their name in the headlines and a few dollars. Content continues to be relatively the same with no real growth.
The drive just doesn’t seem to be there.
Hector has continued to work on new projects and OpTic seemingly has been sitting in his garage. It could potentially be a result of OpTic being acquired once again. Technically NRG owns the OpTic IP and Team Envy would be the new holders. This is coming after news that Rodriguez was unable to create an investor group to purchase the OpTic brand from NRG and left the team to foot the bill for the Call of Duty team.
The Small Difference Between a Salesman and a Con Man
Hector Rodriguez is not a good esports businessman. He’s an excellent content creator.
He’s been gifted a second chance to right the wrongs and he’s missed the mark. His recent venture has reinforced a narrative that he’s not necessarily looking out for the best interest of his company rather he is more focused on individual aspirations.
And at some point, people will need to realize that roses really smell like poo when it comes to OpTic Gaming.
They will have a lot of work to do if they look to become a top North American esports organization. Content creation doesn’t pay the bills anymore – it’s the business with the content. OpTic isn’t cool anymore. An organization that used to be able to pay players at a discount because of clout can’t get away with that anymore. The esports economy has completely changed.
Potentially a stern hand from CEO Adam Rymer at Envy could guide the brand in the right direction. But at the end of the day, almost all of the problems that have plagued OpTic can be connected to Rodriguez. Can he really work under someone else?
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
The Hope for an Ending
It isn’t fun to talk about the OpTic Gaming story. Its one of the most frustrating stories in esports.
We’ve watched the esports scene blossom in recent years. OpTic could have been one of the best success stories in the space. Instead, it’s one of the worst stories in the space. Their story is being painted as a “what not to do” if you’re an esports owner selling to venture capitalist. Instead, it’s a horror story for venture capitalists entering the space.
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1 Comment
Like many news sources a very misleading and crap article that fails to highlight many missing key facts. This was crap to read and whoever wrote this seems to be bored and grasping at strings.