Esteemed French Esports Organization Team LDLC to Cease Operations

Team LDLC, the oldest active esports team in France, announced on May 16th that it will be shutting down all esports operations after nearly 13 years.

Founded in 2010 by electronics retailer LDLC, the organization is most recognized for its successful lineups in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), with a presence in the game for over a decade.

Team LDLC made its mark in Counter-Strike history by winning the DreamHack Winter 2014 Major with a legendary lineup that included Richard “shox” Papillon, Vincent “Happy” Cervoni Schopenhauer, and Nathan “NBK-” Schmitt. The organization remains one of the 13 teams to have clinched a Major championship in CS:GO.

Shortly after this victory, the team was sold to Team EnVyUs, which went on to secure another Major title at DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca 2015, solidifying its position as France’s most successful team to date

Team LDLC has been home to numerous prominent CS:GO players, including Dan ‘apEX’ Madesclaire, Kevin “Ex6TenZ” Droolans, and Kenny ‘kennyS’ Schrub.

In addition to CS:GO, Team LDLC currently fields two FIFA players and a French League of Legends lineup, which recently won the French League tournament for the third consecutive split after claiming the European Masters title in Spring 2020.

In January 2020, Team LDLC partnered with French soccer team Olympique Lyonnais, also known as Lyon, and rebranded as LDLC OL.

Lyon had its own esports division called OL eSports, primarily competing in FIFA since 2017. The merger between the two brands was seen as a significant development in French esports, with plans to host major international tournaments at Lyon’s future multi-purpose arena with a capacity of 16,000.

However, after just over three years, the partnership has come to an end, leading LDLC to make the decision to exit the esports industry. In a press release, the LDLC Group stated that despite their efforts, the teams were unable to gain sufficient recognition among the general public, ultimately leading to the termination of the LDLC OL partnership with OL Group, effective from the end of July 2023.

Over the past five years, LDLC has gradually withdrawn from various titles, narrowing its focus to FIFA, CS:GO, and LoL after previously participating in Overwatch, Fortnite, Call of Duty, Starcraft 2, the eSports World Rally Championship, and Heroes of the Storm.

As Team LDLC prepares to exit the esports scene in July, the CS:GO team will focus on its relegation battle in the ESL Challenger League from June 8th to 11th. The LoL team, on the other hand, currently has no scheduled games until the start of the LFL 2023 Summer Split, which is expected to commence in early June.