Mentioned in this article
- OverActive Media (OAM) has confirmed layoffs in Rochester, New York, which is where its Splyce brand is headquartered.
- A report this weekend claimed that OAM had pursued layoffs ahead of a planned retirement of the Splyce brand. OAM did not comment on the future of Splyce.
- OAM will establish a headquarters in Toronto to support its franchised Overwatch and Call of Duty teams that will compete in the city.
OverActive Media (OAM), the parent company of Splyce and the Overwatch League’s Toronto Defiant, has confirmed layoffs as a result of company restructuring.
Word first came yesterday from a report by Dexerto, which claimed that OAM had laid off Splyce employees ahead of retiring the brand to focus on its Toronto-based teams. OAM Vice President of Global Content and Communications Paulo Senra addressed the layoffs in a statement to The Esports Observer, but did not comment on the future of the Splyce brand.
“We appreciate and respect the contribution of our colleagues in Rochester and we thank each of them for their commitment and passion over the years,” said Senra.
“With our Overwatch and Call of Duty teams moving to Toronto for their respective 2020 seasons, it is time now to establish our operations in Canada,” he continued. “We will be headquartered in Toronto to appropriately support our players, coaches, and all of our key business functions as our business continues to grow and mature. We are building a leading global esports organization—and we will be adding some additional key hires in the weeks ahead as we continue to expand our operations in both Europe and North America.”
Splyce, which is based in Rochester, New York, was acquired by OverActive Media in November 2018. According to the Dexerto report, OAM plans to rebrand Splyce’s League of Legends European Championship (LEC) team as MAD Lions Esports Club, the Spanish organization that OAM acquired this past June. Senra did not comment on questions regarding the Splyce branding, but said that the organization will have “more news in the weeks to come.”
As Senra mentioned, OAM has a third franchised team, as the organization acquired the Toronto spot in next year’s Call of Duty Global League. Both the Toronto Defiant and Call of Duty team will host homestand weekend events in the city in 2020.
