Whinston cited the new competitive ecosystem and tournament format as their primary motivator for moving into the scene.
“This is incredibly important for teams and players,” Whinston explains in the video. “Not only is their schedule now predictable, but they are able to allocate and budget their time over the course of the competitive year.”
Beyond the Whinston outlined that he’s not simply moving into the space “just to put our logo on a jersey and maybe sell some sponsorships around it,” he says, but instead to escalate the competitive space and community.
“We’re entering Dota 2 both to provide a new, fun experience for the fans of Immortals that will follow us into the game, but also to raise the bar for you, the Dota 2 community, on what you should be expecting from the teams and players that make up the competitive part of your ecosystem.”
Whinston then discusses how smaller teams and players are unable to develop their perceived personalities, such as in events like Beyond The Summit, because they are often small or player-owned and lack the energy and money to develop a brand. He describes his desire to build a fan experience around the Dota 2 team and Immortals brand.
Immortals’s presence in the general esports scene is deep, financially and culturally. The team recently obtained investments from entertainment studio Lionsgate and sports-entertainment AEG, and it owns one of the nine currently-known investors in the Overwatch League, with slots currently valued at $20 million.
Their League of Legends team took second this past weekend in the NA League Championship Series, the official regional league, and will continue onto Worlds, the cumulative international finals. Immortals also has players in both Smash Bros games, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Vainglory.
Source: The Flying Courier