Ludwig, Moist Cr1TiKaL become co-owners of Shopify’s esports org “for the love of the game” [Video]

Ecommerce platform Shopify operates an in-house esports organization, and that firm just brought a pair of big-name creators on board. A merger between Shopify Rebellion and Moist Esports will see Charlie White (a.k.a. Moist Cr1TiKaL) and Ludwig Ahgren become co-owners of the former operation.

The combined companies will coexist under the Shopify Rebellion banner. They announced their team-up with a flashy announcement video that imagines the two parties as anime characters:

The merger comes amid growing tensions about the unprofitability of esports. Creators like Disguised Toast have tried to address that overarching issue, but a change of that magnitude is easier said than done.

In a video on his YouTube channel, White admitted that esports is a “worse investment than Hawk Tuah coin.” He claimed that Moist Esports (which brought Ahgren on board as a Co-Owner in 2023) has lost approximately $4.2 million over the past four years.

If esports is such …