Cloud9

Origins and Acquisition

The Cloud9 organization was born from the North American League of Legends scene. The player roster of Balls, Meteos, Hai, Sneaky, and LemonNation first competed together under Quantic Gaming before forming their own team called Team NomNom in early 2013. They soon rebranded to Cloud9. In a significant transaction in May 2013, former Team SoloMid manager Jack Etienne and Paullie Etienne bought out the contracts of all five players for less than $20,000, officially creating the Cloud9 organization. Paullie Etienne became the chief operating officer, and Jack Etienne's father served as the organization's first legal counsel.

Dominant League of Legends Beginnings

Cloud9's inaugural League of Legends season set a high standard. In the 2013 NA LCS Summer Split regular season, the team went on a 13-game winning streak, the longest in LCS history at the time. They secured the top playoff seed and then swept defending champions Team SoloMid 3-0 in the finals on September 1 to win their first LCS title. Their season record stood at 30 wins and 3 losses, a 90.9% win rate. This dominance continued into 2014, where they closed the Spring Split with another 13-game streak, claimed the top seed again, and won a second consecutive LCS title with another 3-0 sweep over Team SoloMid. This victory extended their overall playoff winning streak to 18 games.

The team's original lineup stayed together for nearly 750 days, a record for professional League of Legends at the time. While they reached finals again in 2014 Summer and 2015 Spring, they lost both times to Team SoloMid. After Hai's retirement in May 2015, the team's performance dipped, culminating in a 6-12 record in the 2015 Summer Split and missing the playoffs for the first time.

Expansion and Venture Capital Funding

Following its early League of Legends success, Cloud9 rapidly expanded into other games. By 2014, the organization had divisions in eight titles including Dota 2, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Hearthstone, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. This growth was formalized with the incorporation of Cloud9 Esports, Inc. on September 6, 2016.

Major funding rounds accelerated the company's scale. In March 2017, Cloud9 raised $28 million in a Series A round led by Founders Fund, with investors like Alexis Ohanian and Hunter Pence. By then, the organization had over one million fans. A larger $50 million Series B round followed in late 2018, led by Valor Equity Partners. This capital was intended to build a large headquarters and training facility in Los Angeles. These investments propelled Forbes to rank Cloud9 as the world's most valuable esports company in 2018 at $310 million, and again in 2019 at $400 million.

The Championship Year of 2018

2018 was a year of competitive success for Cloud9 across multiple games. In Counter-Strike, the team won the ELEAGUE Major: Boston, one of the most prestigious events in the sport. In Overwatch, the organization's London Spitfire franchise, created after Cloud9 purchased a London slot in the Overwatch League, won the 2018 Overwatch League Grand Finals. Furthermore, Cloud9's Rocket League division won the Rocket League Championship Series Season 6 World Championship.

This triple crown of international titles was achieved at a time when many other esports teams were scaling back operations. The success led to founder Jack Etienne being named Game Shakers' Shaker of the Year in December 2018. It also attracted landmark sponsorship deals with Puma, AT&T, and BMW, which were the first team esports sponsorships for each of those major brands.

Franchise League Investments and Operations

A key business strategy for Cloud9 has been acquiring permanent slots in franchised leagues. In November 2017, Riot Games announced Cloud9 had secured a League of Legends Championship Series franchise slot for a reported $10 million. Earlier in 2017, Activision Blizzard announced Cloud9 had purchased a London-based slot for the Overwatch League, operating it as the separate London Spitfire entity.

This portfolio grew to include Cloud9 New York in the Call of Duty League and Cloud9 Valorant in the Valorant Champions Tour Americas league. In February 2025, Cloud9 stepped away from Counter-Strike 2 and re-entered the franchised BLAST R6 North America League for Rainbow Six Siege. The organization was also a founding member of Flashpoint in 2020, a Counter-Strike league owned and operated by team organizations.

Continued League of Legends Narrative

Cloud9's League of Legends team has experienced cycles of rebuilding and resurgence. After their 2018 World Championship semifinal run, the first for a North American team in seven years, they won the 2020 LCS Spring Split with a dominant 17-1 regular season record. They swept the finals for their first LCS title since 2014, setting a new single-split North American win percentage record of 92.9%.

The team won its fourth LCS title in the 2021 Spring Split. At the 2021 World Championship, they advanced to the quarterfinals, marking the first time a North American team progressed from the group stage since Cloud9 itself did so in 2018. The organization also faced a notable competitive ruling in November 2019, when Riot Games fined Cloud9 for violating LCS rules by issuing equity to players, with total penalties estimated between $330,000 and $605,000.

Broad Portfolio and Recent Moves

Beyond its major franchises, Cloud9 has maintained a wide array of competitive teams. Its Hearthstone division, formed in June 2014 by acquiring team DogeHouse, featured players like Kolento who won early tournaments such as the Viagame House Cup and DreamHack Championship. Over the years, Cloud9 has also operated teams in Apex Legends, Fortnite, Halo, Teamfight Tactics, World of Warcraft, and many others.

Recent strategic moves include creating a Valorant division in April 2020, which later fielded an all-female team. In May 2024, Cloud9 was selected for the Esports World Cup Foundation's Club Support Program, receiving funding to enter new esports. In June 2025, the organization publicly denied rumors of a return to Counter-Strike, following its exit from that title earlier in the year.