Mentioned in this article Games: Dota 2 Teams: OG

Just one month after its creation in October 2015, OG claimed a spot among the top contenders in Dota 2. Winning the 2015 Frankfurt Major was a major breakthrough for the organisation and by winning the 2016 Manila Major, OG became the first team to win two out of the three premier tournaments leading up to Valve’s The International 2016. All along the way, livestreaming firm Hitbox—self-proclaimed Twitch-challenger and streaming innovator—remained steadfastly at OG’s side. Today, not quite a year after their journey started, OG and Hitbox part ways.

A statement by OG, exclusively made available to The Esports Observer, reads as follows:

“Early into the creation of OG we found a sponsor that believed in our vision; Hitbox. They actively worked alongside us to support the basis on which we built OG; fairness and transparency. We fondly remember Hitbox staff vehemently cheering us on every step of the way through the Frankfurt Major but also patiently being available anytime we needed help streaming. With Hitbox, we talked about doing things differently. Doing things differently meant inadvertently communicating to other esports teams that we believed their model didn’t work. All those who worked with us to build OG needed to be resolute in the belief that we were doing the right thing. Hitbox went out of their way to publicly support our then small project and evangelize the player-first team model. Giving the players a voice to determine the direction of the brand was one of many ambitions we are so grateful to have achieved. We know that team sponsors change all the time and it’s often only when sponsors announce a team partnership that a little statement is made. We all know that statement. That’s just not the way we do things as Hitbox will always be considered a part of the OG Family. Rarely is a word spoken to thank past partners for their commitment and effort. Today, we want to show gratitude for that commitment as we go our separate ways. Here’s to all the happiest moments we shared and for all the hard-work you put into OG. We wish everyone there only the best with the road ahead. Thank you for everything!”

What is coming up for both brands now that they decided to move on separately? OG is looking strong ahead of TI 2016 which is promising a prize pool way above $18 million, mainly thanks to crowdfunding. So for now, OG probably has only thing in mind: winning the most prestigious Dota 2 tournament of all. Speaking of Hitbox, the Austria-based company—which has raised $1 million in its seed round and another $4 million in its Series A funding since early 2015—wasn’t a talking point for quite a while, up until a couple of days ago, when an unofficial Windows 10 app appeared in the Windows Store. Additionally, Hitbox is still partnered with the likes of ESL, DreamHack, and Wargaming—one of its early investors.

The quintessence: both companies may have a bright future in esports—or not, depending on their individual success. The joint venture definitely has come to an end, for better or worse? Only time will tell.