LDLC set to withdraw from esports

18-5-2023 00:31

The French organization will pull the plug on its operations after its partnership with the Olympique Lyonnais football club expires in July.

LDLC will be withdrawing from esports when the organization's partnership with the Olympique Lyonnais football club expires in July, it has been announced, the move officially bringing an end to a 10-year history of the organization within CS:GO.

Flashback: The rise and fall of French Counter-Strike

The French organization first entered Valve's shooter in 2013, when the brand signed a French-majority roster consisting of the likes of Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire, Mathieu "⁠Maniac⁠" Quiquerez, and Vincent "⁠Happy⁠" Schopenhauer.

LDLC's current roster is set to depart the organization by July

It was only a short time later, in 2014, that the organization reached the peak of their success in CS:GO. Their new all-French squad, featuring players such as Richard "⁠shox⁠" Papillon, Fabien "⁠kioShiMa⁠" Fiey, and Nathan "⁠NBK-⁠" Schmitt, went on a gold-medal run through the DreamHack Winter 2014 Major in Jönköping, Sweden.

Years went by before the organization was once again able to challenge for titles, albeit on the lower tier scene, notably triumphing at the ESL Pro European and Championship and PMU Challenge 2018 Finals with an LDLC roster consisting of Alex "⁠ALEX⁠" McMeekin and François "⁠amanek⁠" Delaunay. It was this French-majority outfit that was able to reach LDLC's peak on the world ranking; they made it to a high of No. 12 globally back in November 2018, a feat that hasn't once been threatened in the five years since.

The remainder of LDLC's time within CS:GO has been a mixed bag for the most part, with their lineups mostly competing within France's domestic scene or in the tier-two rungs of the European Counter-Strike ladder. Alas, the side has produced some talent and been the home of some well-known names, namely Kévin "⁠Ex6TenZ⁠" Droolans and Ali "⁠hAdji⁠" Haïnouss, as well as Nicolas "⁠Keoz⁠" Dgus, who recently qualified for the BLAST.tv Paris Major playoffs with GamerLegion.

AMANEK on LDLC benching: "Psychologically I couldn't be present for my teammates"

Their current roster sits at No. 69 on the world ranking, unable to try their hand at qualifying for the ongoing Major on home soil after faltering in the closed qualifier stage. The French troupe has also been hindered by having an incomplete roster, with amanek being moved to the bench in April and the side instead having to field their coach, Lambert "⁠Lambert⁠" Prigent, in the interim.

"If the team benefits from a wide notoriety and recognition among passionate gamers, they have not – despite the efforts made – succeeded in finding a sufficient place with the general public," LDLC began in their press release, which was released in French.

"Thus, the LDLC Group and OL Groupe have decided in advance to end their LDLC OL partnership from the end of July 2023. The end of this partnership will also mark, for LDLC Event, its withdrawal from the esports scene and its operational activities in this sector."

LDLC's current roster is as follows:

Hugo "⁠Brooxsy⁠" Di Bono
Filip "⁠Graviti⁠" Brankovic
Arthur "⁠Snobling⁠" Benard
Aurélien "⁠afro⁠" Drapier

Lambert "⁠Lambert⁠" Prigent (coach)

2023-05-18 00:31

7 replies

Doesn't matter, shox confirmed return of titan anyways

2023-05-18 05:15

6 replies

kqly comeback incoming

2023-05-18 06:03

Link for Titan comeback?

2023-05-18 06:12

Lmao no.

2023-05-18 08:09

Source?

2023-05-18 08:10

He didn't, he was referencing the showmatch

2023-05-18 08:51

titan stickers 📉

2023-05-18 11:55

KQLY destroyed LDLC

2023-05-18 00:32

4 replies

2023-05-18 00:35

kqly is a legend, same goes for Uzzziii

2023-05-18 03:36

this^

2023-05-18 15:09

RIP CSGO

RIP ESPORTS

2023-05-18 00:33

legend...

2023-05-18 00:34

RIP LDLC so many memories, feels so sad

legendary org, will be missed.

won more majors than g2, vitality and heroic respect

1 reply

2023-05-18 01:41

french scene actually died before na rip

2023-05-18 00:37

Afro(( Someone save him

LDLC STICKERS BUY THEM FAST! (need a loan for 20k to buy one)

Damn LDLC was one of the first teams I cheered for when I started playing csgo....this sucks.

2023-05-18 00:38

Sad day for brazilian cs :(

old timers will remember F

Reminder : LDLC's major is a fraud, they only got it becaused they whined about olofboost.

2023-05-18 00:40

2 replies

Lmao flair checks out

2023-05-18 04:25

True

2023-05-18 05:21

Sadge, my first event was them winning the major in sweden. Thank you LDLC for what you have done for french CS, long live the king

2023-05-18 00:42

It would be so sick if Falcons took afro + another good french player (depending on the role Snobling, even Graviti or any other promising player), I hope they go back on going international

+afro +sixer And perfect falcon team

2023-05-18 09:05

Soo they just wasted afro and amanek's time

2023-05-18 00:47

2023-05-18 00:50

which org will be the next???

2023-05-18 00:56

org investing in shitty players...

mens (((

2023-05-18 01:00

The memories will live on. ^^ I remember how dominant and terrifying the French scene was for talent in 2013/2014... If not for Sweden or Denmark, it easily would've been a very different story for French CS.

2023-05-18 01:06

source adapters

2023-05-18 01:13

Most of them, yeah. It's the same engine, though - so I'd expect a French scene rather quickly.

2023-05-18 01:20

This is sad af

2023-05-18 01:09

What losing to eg does to a mf

2023-05-18 01:12

Sadge

2023-05-18 01:17

sad day for CS when this classic org is gone :(

2023-05-18 01:24

damn almost a decade of being in the scene, prety sad

2023-05-18 01:26

rip legendary org sadge

wont be missed

2023-05-18 01:30

another day in the french scene maybe afro gets saved now

2023-05-18 01:31

SAVE AFRO FFS

2023-05-18 01:37

Damnn end of an era. Lately I was browsing through that team's history wondering how long they've been around. Rip

2023-05-18 01:43

Omaygot

2023-05-18 02:03

change back to the old logo and re-enter cs2

2023-05-18 02:08

Another Titan

2023-05-18 02:11

if Afro and Graviti goes to Falcons would be a nice

2023-05-18 02:13

Sad because some of them really deserves a shot in high tier CS. afrooo, snobling, graviti, amanek, jackz, shox, drac, diviii, maka, hadji, djoko, lucky, exercice, kursyy, jeyn, razzmo... There are a lot of potential, it's just sad they can't get their shits together and do something.

2023-05-18 02:17

Valve needs to do something. Give more opportunities for the orgs to make money.

2023-05-18 02:20

don’t worry guys esports is fine and sustainable with only EU. keep all tournaments EU only and this will keep happening.

LDLC sticker price : Stonk

2023-05-18 02:48

money laundrying rate: went up to rooftop 9000%

2023-05-18 07:17

Save afro

2023-05-18 03:35

RIP LDLC, last bastion of the French scene

2023-05-18 04:04

didnt it already end when vitality went international??

2023-05-18 04:44

No because at that time the subtop was still alive, today there is nothing left, whether in the T1, or in the subtop

2023-05-18 14:04

massive F

2023-05-18 04:21

Lol

2023-05-18 05:11

Afro to Falcons

2023-05-18 05:57

if falcons are smart this is where they get afro + amanek/jackz + xtqzz and give some hope to french cs.

2023-05-18 06:10

Falcons saoudi, then not smart

2023-05-18 09:10

allez Lyon

2023-05-18 06:35

2023-05-19 01:21

If ldlc was sponsored by OL why didnt they go international to get some extra pay from bigger events, being stuck in the french scene which doesnt exists, that's what ruined them

2023-05-18 06:44

3 replies

Because LDLC had more teams than just CS. Some of you live in a bubble with the takes you make...

2023-05-20 05:42

Yes but obviously CSGO is hard to be profitable if you arent playing big events constantly, and yet they still decided to field a t4 roster which probably made little to none profits for the company, from a buisiness standpoint is braindead

2023-05-20 08:38

They were not expecting profit from CS:GO, so they went with an academy team that cost nothing and hoped it could grow into something like Mouz NXT. Their main focus was LOL, but not even a multi-winning European Master team could make them enough profit. That should tell you about the state of esports.

2023-05-20 13:46

Cs go dead

2023-05-18 06:56

2023-05-18 06:58

afro unluko

2023-05-18 07:16

RIP to the 4th team to ever win a csgo major

2023-05-18 07:20

Rip

2023-05-18 08:08

French cs dying in front of us

2023-05-18 08:22

it's actually reviving

2023-05-18 09:45

that's the price to pay to achieve a 4 day workweek for all LDLC employees you betrayed us Laurent

2023-05-18 08:29

- LDLC out - Rue de Commerce in And onto another adventure.

2023-05-18 09:48

2023-05-18 09:18

That's really sad. I remember everytime Fnatic played vs LDLC and it was a banger game

2023-05-18 09:22

another one bites the dust

Feels man, I bought my current graphics card from them.

2023-05-18 09:47

LDLC on Dreamhack Winter 2014 was beautiful, really the first team to start abusing force buys after losing pistol rounds, and they would get away with it. I miss those days of cs.

RIP

Valve with the no 2nd major in 2023 made lots of teams to withdraw from competing and also go bankrupt i think. Hopefully no other teams feel forced to leave the scene because of financial issues

2023-05-18 10:32

So Amanek is free to find a good team now?

2023-05-18 10:37

When was the last time they actually won something

2023-05-18 11:08

LDLCZ times, I guess?

2023-05-18 12:06

2023-05-18 13:08

Falcons its time?

2023-05-18 14:22

This roster was done, that was sure, but man, that's another French org. gone, like who is even left at this point? No one really, that's so sad for the French scene, one of the greatest ever at their weakest point :( Hopefully they will bounce back in CS2

2023-05-18 15:49