Imagine Dragons funds Esports company

Imagine Dragons, a Nevada-based rock band famous for numbers such as “Its time” and “Radioactive” has invested in ReKTGlobal, an Egaming company based at New York. The band members have also stakes in co-own Las Vegas-based esports team Rogue alongside musician Steve Aoki.

Imagine Dragons have already dipped their toe in the esports scene. It wrote and performed the song “Warriors” in 2014 for the “League of Legends” World Championships in Seoul. Band members Daniel Platzman and Wayne Sermon are apparently long-time gamers, and they want to become more active in the esports community.

“We love gaming and esports and have been looking for new ways to contribute to this community for a long time – but we never found the right fit until now,” said Imagine Dragons manager Mac Reynolds. “We expect to see esports continue its rapid growth internationally, and we think Rogue and ReKTGlobal are the partners who will help make our hometown of Las Vegas the premiere team and gaming event destination.”

“The Imagine Dragons team is going to be an important part of Rogue’s future and the future of Las Vegas,” said Derek Nelson, Rogue CEO and co-founder. “As we continue to build championship-winning teams and build the city as the premiere destination for American esports, the influence of Imagine Dragons and Steve Aoki will be the driving force behind it.”

Rogue was founded in 2016 and is one of the top esports organisations in North America. It has teams in “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive,” “Rocket League,” “H1Z1,” and more. Its roster also includes “Fortnite” streamer DrLupo, who recently participated in a Las Vegas streaming event hosted by Ninja that broke Twitch’s concurrent viewer record.

Imagine Dragons has sold more than 12 million albums and 35 million singles worldwide. “Evolve,” the band’s platinum-selling third album, is the biggest rock album of 2017, selling over 1.3 million albums in the U.S. with over four billion streams globally.

Source: variety.com