- The organization will withdraw from the esports scene entirely by the end of July
- It used to be partnered with the popular French football club Lyon
- That partnership ended earlier in 2023, speeding LDLC’s exit from the esports scene
Although it was one of the most decorated esports organizations in France, Team LDLC has decided to cease all of its competitive operations in the next few months.
LDLC Will Stop Operations
Team LDLC is the oldest esports organization in France, being sponsored by the eponymously named electronic retailer. Having been founded in 2010, the company’s esports organization has fielded successful teams in many games, such as CS:GO, League of Legends, PUBG, CoD, and others. However, Team LDLC will be shutting down all of its esports operations after 13 years on the professional competitive scene.
The organization leaves behind itself a rich history linked with some of the most popular and successful French CS:GO players, such as Richard “shox” Papillon, Vincent “Happy” Cervoni Schopenhauer, and Nathan “NBK-” Schmitt. Team LDLC famously won the DreamHack Winter 2014 Major with this lineup, paving the way for the players to become the start they are today.
In January 2020, Team LDLC partnered with the popular French football team Olympique Lyonnais, a.k.a. Lyon, and rebranded to LDLC OL. During that time the organization won several FIFA tournaments, including triumphing at the French League tournament for the third split in a row earlier in 2023.
Lyon had been running its own esports division since 2017 which competed primarily in FIFA. Therefore, the partnership between it and LDLC was considered a major move in French esports. The football team had even announced plans to host big international esports tournaments in a 16 000 seat multi-purpose arena.
Why Is the Organization Ceasing Operations?
Despite LDLC achieving multiple successes over the years, the team was not as popular with the general public as its sponsors had hoped for. This was cited as the main reason for the ceasing of all operations, according to an LDLC Group announcement on May 16.
“As such, the LDLC Group and OL Group have decided on the early termination of their LDLC OL partnership with effect from the end of July 2023,” the announcement reads. “The end of this partnership will also mark LDLC Event’s withdrawal from the e-sport scene and the cessation of its operational activities in this sector.”
Perhaps LDLC’s withdrawal from many titles over the past years should have been taken as an early sign that the organization will cease its esports operations. over the last five years to be left with just their FIFA, CS, and LoL lineups after previously having a presence in many more games.
Now ahead of Team LDLC’s exit from esports in July, its CS team will be focused on their relegation battle to remain in the ESL Challenger League from June 8 to 11. Meanwhile, the org’s LoL team has no scheduled games until the Summer Split of the LFL 2023 season starts early in July.
