SoaR Gaming is one of the few companies left standing from the initial wave of esports hype in the early 2010s. The secret to its survival? Divesting from esports completely.
Next week marks the 15th anniversary of SoaR Gaming, which started out as a collective of trickshotting “Call of Duty” players in March 2011 before growing into a prominent esports organization with rosters in “Counter-Strike,” “Valorant,” “Apex Legends” and other popular titles. In 2019, SoaR Gaming was purchased by a new ownership group led by current chief operating officer Oliver Silverstein, with some of the org’s original founders, including Mustafa “Crude” Aijaz, staying on as leaders and key operators.
The SoaR Gaming of today looks very different from the SoaR of yesteryear. Since dropping its “Valorant” team in 2022, the company has intentionally shifted from an esports team model to an approach more akin to a creative agency or brand consultancy, developing concepts and executing on campaigns or activations for brands interested in reaching different elements of the gaming audience. Silverstein flagged this pivot as a key factor behind SoaR’s ongoing survival, with the company diverting funds that would previously have gone to pro player salaries into building its content and brand services.
“If we are going to enter esports, it’s going to be partner-led — a brand’s going to come in, they’re going to advise us that they would like to have some exposure within esports, and we would then either white-label or build out an esports opportunity for them,” Silverstein said in an interview with GamesBeat. “It’s for sure within our capabilities. We just don’t want to take on the overhead of having an esports roster and all the costs that are associated with it. We’ve been there, done that, and it’s super challenging; the space has not learned how to be profitable with a pure-play esports roster.”
Although SoaR gaming still maintains a roster of roughly 45 content creators from across the gaming space, the company does not currently publicize its roster on its website or in conversations with potential clients. Instead, SoaR takes an agnostic approach, helping brands show up with creators that are a good fit both on its roster and beyond.
“These are creators that want to associate their brand with SoaR, and we allow them to do so, and have them support via content and other initiatives on our platform,” Silverstein said. “But it’s not anything we sell through to brands when they want to leverage the SoaR property.”
SoaR’s pivot away from esports has paid off for the company. As it goes into its 15th anniversary, the company is celebrating its second consecutive year of profitability — a rare feat for any esports organization — with Silverstein crediting the company’s strong relationships with sponsors and years of endemic knowledge as factors behind its profitability.
“I used to wear 50 different hats. There was no accounts department and there was no legal — it was just, ‘DM me if you want to leave SoaR,’” Aijaz said in an interview with GamesBeat. “So, for me, I’ve really seen the evolution of SoaR since I was 14 years old, and now, it’s a night and day difference.”