UK esports organisation LDN UTD have today announced their acquisition by play and earn NFT company Ludus Gaming.
Ludus Gaming will become the majority shareholder of LDN UTD, with Daniel Gee of Ludus becoming CEO of LDN UTD. Founder and outgoing CEO of LDN UTD, Oliver Weingarten, will become chairman, with James Sheehan of sport, media and finance group SM22 joining the board as a non-executive director.
Ludus also recently acquired NFT game development studio Look Labs.
The news comes after LDN UTD withdrew from the League of Legends NLC and announced they were revising their esports strategy back in August.
LDN UTD have operated in a range of games including FIFA and Valorant, with LDN UTD having partnered with OG Esports earlier this year. The organisation also have a focus on social issues, including mental and physical health, education, nutrition and more, having worked with the Mayor of London, Rio Ferdinand Foundation, Durham University, Green Man Gaming, content creators, influencers including LDN UTD co-owner Connor Ball and more.
LDN UTD’s Camden Centre of Excellence, which has been supported by partners including Alienware, Dell, HyperX and noblechairs, will continue to host regular community events, provide a home for content creators and upcoming streamers, and be a hub for LDN UTD’s education initiative, UTD EDN.
There will be more opportunities developed with local authorities, such as with Camden Council on their Youth Pathways Scheme.
The board of Ludus Gaming represents a combined 30 years of experience in finance, technology and community driven business development, and will be exploring further sponsorship opportunities, digital membership solutions, hospitality and events and pop-up activations to blend the traditional gaming aspects of LDN UTD with other complementary businesses within its group.
Oliver Weingarten, chairman at LDN UTD, said: “I have consistently stated it is imperative that LDN UTD aligns with partners that believe in the values and ethos of LDN UTD, and want to continue to drive it forward, innovating at every opportunity. With Ludus, Dan and James, I’m confident we have the right ingredients to fulfil the potential that LDN UTD has shown over the last few years, with a view to scalability, which has been tough to drive forward from an investment perspective in a challenging economic climate.
“There are many people to thank for their support in getting to this stage in the journey, too many to name today, but to the advisors, brands, and stakeholders who have bought into LDN UTD, who have shown trust in LDN UTD, and who have supported me, my sincerest thanks. The biggest thanks however goes to our community.”
Olly Weingarten, LDN UTD
Daniel Gee, CEO of LDN UTD, added: “Ludus Gaming was created to push inclusivity in gaming and the ethos of LDN UTD fits perfectly with our purpose. We explored lots of acquisitions including other esports orgs but working alongside Olly and the LDN UTD team we knew this would be the perfect fit for our team; leveraging our skills in building long term commercial partnerships and growing brands. We can’t wait to begin the transformation into a global esports education and development community and explore deploying the LDN UTD model worldwide.”
James Sheehan, non-executive director of LDN UTD, commented: “Bringing together an established esports brand like LDN UTD with high performance sports, media and gaming talent introduced by the Ludus team and SM22 network will greatly enhance the overall corporate offering and commercial value of the enlarged group. We look forward to developing the education platform and adding significant revenue to LDN UTD with new commercial partnerships and high quality content.”
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
