Avant Gaming officially merge into the Dire Wolves

News broke yesterday across social media that Avant Gaming, one of Oceania’s most veteran esports organisations, has closed up shop and since merged with the Dire Wolves. Along with that came the announcement of a new organisation (Peace) entering the scene in lieu of Avant’s spot in the League of Legends Circuit Oceania (LCO), previously known as the Oceanic Pro League.

Avant Gaming, previously known as Avant Garde Ascension and Avant Garde, has been around our industry for an extremely long period of time; competing in almost any title you could think of which has a local community for it. Most notably Avant became a prominent name from their time in League of Legends, both before the establishment of the then Oceanic Pro League and throughout their time in the competition. 

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Over the past few years we’ve seen Avant Gaming secure a wide variety of monumental partnerships; signing the likes of Maxibon, Ice Break and a wide variety of endemic tech companies to their brand. Although with that being said, in the past twelve months a noticeable decrease in activity has been present for whatever reason and since has come the decision from the ownership team to officially close up shop.

What does Dire Wolves acquiring Avant Gaming actually mean? Most notably, Dire Wolves have stated in their press release that they have officially signed the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster that was previously competing under Avant at a top level (core three of ap0c, HaZr and Sterling). Dire Wolves themselves have been absent from the title since their venture back in 2015/2016. 

Former CEO and Owner of Avant Gaming, Wesley Collier, stated “the Dire Wolves and Avant have always shared an amazing rivalry and mutual respect as two of the leading and most storied esports organisations in Oceania, and this coming together heralds the end of an amazing journey for Avant, but a new era for both organisations, and the further establishment of the Dire Wolves as the dominant esports brand in the region.”

It’s unknown at this stage where the remaining partnerships of Avant Gaming, such as Ice Break and AMD, will go. But a favourable bet would be that the partnerships will transfer over to the Dire Wolves in the near future. 

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Jyles Lulham, long time Creative Director and Manager for Avant Gaming, announced his departure from the brand prior to this news with a storied background on his time at Avant Gaming- it's expected that he’ll announce his next venture in the very near future. Other staff working for Avant are yet to make any public statements regarding their next steps. 

Oceania has very few storied organisations left in the scene now following the departure of Avant, with only the likes of long serving organisations such as The Chiefs Esports Club, Legacy Esports and Mindfreak remaining. 

Given that Dire Wolves have stated that more details are to come in the near future regarding their acquisition of Avant Gaming, be sure to connect with them on Twitter for any updates on the move - Here’s The Thing will be sure to report on any large changes if they become present.

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Credits:

• Written by Ben Scott