OpTic parent company cuts 19 staff and president Chris Chaney
The parent company of OpTic Gaming, Infinite Esports & Entertainment, has laid off 19 employees alongside the holding company's president Chris Chaney, a report by Ben Fischer from Esports Observer states. Infinite was founded in 2017 after Chaney and the MLB Rangers co-owner Neil Leibman jointly acquired a majority stake in OpTic.
The company's new president, Ryan Musselman, stated that "generally speaking, we think we grew too fast," in response to the layoffs. Infinite had approximately 70 employees before these recent changes. While Chris Chaney has been removed as president, he will retain his position and title as an owner and cofounder of Infinite.
Infinite Esports & Entertainment own stakes in a number of esports ventures, including the original OpTic Gaming franchise and the Overwatch League team the Houston Outlaws, among a number of smaller companies. The group also previously had ties with Battlefy as one of their former investors, Deep Space Ventures, owned a portion of the tournament platform, but those ties no long exist as the parent company was forced to sever ties with the investment firm back in August.
With the layoffs, Infinite's company executives aim to put renewed focus towards "foundational" brands such as OpTic's CS:GO and League of Legends teams and the Houston Outlaws Overwatch team.
OpTic are currently competing at StarSeries i-League Season 6, where they earned a playoffs berth with a 3-1 record in the Swiss group stage. Their quarterfinals matchup will see them take on Renegades in the first match of the playoffs, kicking off the first day in the arena at 4 AM EDT on October 12th.
