Astralis Group has announced the merger of its three team brands, Astralis, Future FC, and Origen. Going forward, all teams will compete under the Astralis name and colors.
Astralis is among the most popular team brands in Europe despite currently only competing in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. This merger brings the Astralis name into the League of Legends European Championship for the first time, putting Astralis in the same league as other European heavyweights like Fnatic and G2 Esports.
Astralis Group first entered the LEC through its acquisition of Origen – a League of Legends organization founded by former Fnatic pro player Enrique “xPeke” Cedeño Martinez. Martinez will remain a shareholder in Astralis Group.
The merger also brings Astralis Group’s brand strategy more in line with other top-level esports organizations. The vast majority of organizations have a singular brand under which all of their teams compete (save for their Overwatch League and Call of Duty League teams due to Activision Blizzard rules). Astralis Group and Immortals Gaming Club are perhaps the only notable examples of major organizations that have deviated from this strategy.
Astralis Group shifting away from that segmentation approach suggests that within esports it is indeed more effective to leverage a single brand across a wide array of games.
Astralis Group went public last November. Last month, the company reported a net loss of $4.8M USD for H1 2020, but indicated that sponsorship revenues had grown $706K.