M80 has moved to acquire Beastcoast, adding the likes of Dota 2 and Pokémon-focused esports to an already stacked roster. The organisation will now cover these games in addition to Rainbow Six Siege, Counter-Strike 2, and VALORANT, but the move hasn’t been completed without a few upsets.
The losers of this deal are represented by Beastcoast’s former Rainbow Six Siege team, which claimed a victory at the BLAST R6 Major in Manchester, England earlier this year. They’re now left without an organisation to represent at the Six Invitational 2025, which is fast approaching.
Last-Minute Change
M80 posted on social media:
M80 is pleased to announce we have acquired Beastcoast and their esports and media businesses. Excited to welcome them to the M80 family!
In June, Beastcoast and Cloud9 partnered in the Rainbow Six Siege space ahead of the Esports World Cup. It didn’t turn out to be too fruitful a partnership, given that the team failed to qualify for the EWC, but it was also a very short-lived one. Per the official statement released by M80, some key staff members are being pulled over from Beastcoast, but it’s bad news for some:
As part of the acquisition, M80 will absorb several of Beastcoast’s esports operations – including a top team in DOTA 2 – one of the largest Pokemon media businesses in gaming, and key staff, including CEO Grant Zinn.
In his new role at M80, Zinn will serve as Chief Business Development Officer, where he will support M80’s expansion and double-down on fandom in exciting, but underserved esports like Pokemon and fast-growing regions like South America.
The core trio that represented Beastcoast – Hotancold, SpiriTz, and Gaveni – has been left out in the cold following this move. They’ve resigned to stay together and add a couple of new players to their squad, but they currently have no banner to fly at the Six Invitational, which takes place in Boston in February.
Previous members of the Beastcoast roster, dfuzr and Gunnar, have unknown futures ahead of them.
Earlier this year, Beastcoast beat Team BDS in an unlikely finish in Manchester to secure the trophy at the BLAST R6 Major, the first such win for the organisation in Rainbow Six.
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