Chinese esports organization Invictus Gaming (IG) announced on Saturday that the company has completed a restructuring that includes new investments. The strategic investment was led by the Chinese live streaming platform Huya and the multi-channel network (MCN) company Young Sports.
Sources close to IG told The Esports Advocate that the investment from Huya and Young Sports was in the multi-million dollar range. In addition, IG founder Sicong Wang, the only son of Chinese billionaire Wang Jianlin, will continue to be the major shareholder of IG.
IG also stated that the support from Huya and Young Sports was not only financial but also strategic.
“Huya will provide advanced technology and wide customer resources, while Young Sports will provide guides in team management and operations,” IG said in its announcement.
It should be noted that IG also mentioned that the company will have a new League of Legends Pro League (LPL) home venue in the future. As the first Chinese team to win the League of Legends World Championship in 2018 and Dota 2’s The International in 2012, IG has a massive esports fanbase in China. The League of Legends World Championship 2024 will also come back to China after four years, and the Finals will come to Chengdu. It’s one of the reasons that Huya and Young Sports invested in IG.
In September, Huya announced that it had signed a new term with LPL operator TJ Sports, reducing the 2024-2025 LPL aggregate license fee from ￥300M RMB ($42.8M USD) to ￥230M ($32.8M).
Sources close to IG told TEA that former IG players Kang “TheShy” Seung-lok and Song “Rookie” Eui-jin will also join the IG LPL squad for the upcoming LPL Seasons. The two were also core team players of IG in 2018, who helped the team win the 2018 League of Legends World Championship in Inchon, South Korea. It should also be noted that Young Sports signed brokerage contracts with Seung-lok and Eui-jin as their agency in 2023. Seung-lok also reposted IG’s restructuring announcement on Weibo.