FaZe Clan purchase agreed with Complexity owners GameSquare
After a troubled few years and a failed launch as a publically traded company, FaZe Clan will be acquired by GameSquare.
GameSquare is a Texas-based esports company backed by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, and now, has acquired a 55% shareholder stake in FaZe Clan. This all comes as of October 20.
According to Digiday, the deal has been approved by both boards and will close by the end of the financial year, with the merger valuing FaZe Clan at around $16 million, a stark decline from the $400 million valuation that FaZe claimed before it went public last May.
FaZe Clan x GameSquare will reinstate the old leadership group
Click to enlargeOver the last few years, the "OGs" of FaZe Clan have entered a corporate nightmare, with the streamers and content creators often being publically against the direction the board has propelled them in.
But now, GameSquare is reinstating the FaZe Clan founders back to their positions of authority. In the new-look company, Richard "FaZe Banks" Bengtson will serve as CEO, operating as a "wholly owned subsidiary and independent division of GameSquare."
Thomas "FaZe Temperrr" Oliveira will be President of FaZe Clan too, while Yousef "FaZe Apex" Abdelfattah will serve as COO.
GameSquare has vowed that the Founders are "focused on refreshing the FaZe Clan brand", where they will try and restore the content-heavy organisation with its original fan base and continue to expand on what they built years ago.
Scepticism has been made of this move, as previously-interested company Enthusiast Gaming claimed that FaZe Clan had grown "too niche," resulting in them ending any potential negotiations, according to the same Digiday report.
GameSquare's FaZe Clan acquisition pools together mass content creator group
FaZe Clan and the colossal group of creators in their portfolio will now join forces with other personalities contracted to GameSquare's other esports ventures, namely Complexity.
Names such as Timothy "TimTheTatman" Betar and Tyler "Ninja" Blevins are both under the GameSquare banner, who will now be joined by creators Nick "NICKMERCS" Kolcheff and Kris "Swagg" Lamberson, alongside personalities Max Holloway and Trevon Diggs.
As for the esports teams, GameSquare will now own both Complexity and FaZe Clan, which could create a conflict of interest. Recently, we've seen Evil Geniuses and Wolves Esports meander this minefield, as the merged organisation aim to place teams under each brand in the VALORANT Champions Tour, albeit in different regions.
Other instances of mergers like this have seen OpTic Gaming eat up Team Envy, a previously Complexity-size organisation. The merger will now see GameSquare and FaZe Clan combine to hold over one billion social media followers, as they will continue to operate as their own brand under new ownership.
