The French electronics retailer LDLC has announced that their esports division LDLC OL (Team LDLC) will shut down at the end of July 2023.
Eventually, Groupe LDLC and Olympique Lyonnais, the owners of LDLC OL, chose to cancel their partnership. After more than a decade in the industry, the organization is quitting esports.
Mostly known for their Counter-Strike rosters, Team LDLC is a well-known French organization. The organization was founded in 2010, and before joining CS:GO in 2012, they competed in both the original CS and CS:Source. One of the first CS:GO Major championships, DreamHack Winter 2014, was the team’s biggest achievement.
The organization partnered with the Lyon-based football team Olympique Lyonnais in 2020, and as a result, they moved their headquarters to the city. Additionally, the organization’s name was changed to LDLC OL.
Recently, LDLC has enjoyed success in other video games, especially League of Legends. In addition to winning the European Masters Spring 2020, the organization dominated France’s top regional league, the LFL. Since the league’s beginning in 2019, Team LDLC has taken home five LFL split victories, including the most recent season of the competition. The team also placed second at the EU Masters Spring 2022 competition.
LDLC Group stated in the announcement that it will be dismantled but did not specify why, other than to remark that “the teams did not manage to carve out a sufficient positioning among the general public, despite their best efforts.” Given that LDLC was a competitively successful team in France, it’s noteworthy to observe this.
The Team LDLC ownership issued a statement in which it stated: “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 end of this partnership will also mark LDLC Event’s withdrawal from the esports scene and the cessation of its operational activities in this sector.”
