Dignitas (esports)

Did You Know?

• Dignitas originally entered Rocket League by picking up the amateur North American team Applesauce on 23 January 2018.
• In February 2022, Dignitas signed NFL player Boston Scott as a content creator and substitute for its Rocket League roster.
• Dignitas entered Valorant on 15 May 2020 by signing an all women's team.

History

Since its founding in 2003, Dignitas has won 18 world championships across 35 different titles. The first world championship came in 2005 when Chris Bullard won the FIFA Interactive World Cup. In 2006, the Battlefield 2 team was named Team of the Year by Geeksnet.org. UKCounterTerrorist.com ranked Dignitas the number one team in Great Britain in May 2007. Freek "XeNoGeaR" Molema won the Trackmania Nations tournament at the 2007 Electronic Sports World Cup, earning $10,000. Shaun "Apollo" Clark placed first in Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars at World Cyber Games 2007. The World in Conflict team was nominated for the 2007 eSports Award as eSport Team of the Year. At World Cyber Games 2008, Pascal "Dackel" Pfefferle won gold in Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath. David "DaveySkills" Kelly won the Forza Motorsport 3 championship at World Cyber Games 2010. Jeffrey "SjoW" Brusi won $7,500 placing first in the StarCraft II IEM European Tournament in January 2011. From 2010 to 2016, Dignitas housed multiple TrackMania world champions, including Fredrik "Bergie" Bergmann (ESWC 2010), Tim "Spam" Lunenburg and Carl-Antoni "CarlJr. Cloutier (first and third at ESWC 2012), and CarlJr.'s three consecutive TrackMania 2 Stadium titles at ESWC 2013, 2014, and 2015. In 2016, Dignitas was acquired by Philadelphia 76ers owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer, merging with Apex Gaming while keeping the Dignitas branding. A parent company, New Meta Entertainment, was formed in 2019 after merging with Clutch Gaming, with investments from Fertitta Entertainment, Susquehanna Private Capital, Delaware North, and Steve Rifkind.

League of Legends

After being rejected as a franchise partner for the NA LCS in 2017, Dignitas returned to League of Legends in 2019 by acquiring Clutch Gaming. Under Dignitas' coaching staff, Clutch climbed from ninth place at the end of the 2019 LCS Spring Season to qualifying for Worlds 2019 as North America's third seed. After Worlds, Clutch Gaming rebranded under the Dignitas banner. On 3 June 2021, Dignitas announced a naming rights deal with QNTMPAY, renaming its LCS and LCS Academy teams to Dignitas QNTMPAY and DIG QNTM Academy respectively.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Dignitas has fielded Counter-Strike teams since 2004, entering the Global Offensive scene on 8 March 2013 with the signing of Torqued. That squad was dropped on 8 August 2013, and the organization took a brief leave until 16 February 2014, when it picked up the Danish team über G33KZ. This roster achieved 3rd-4th-place finishes at both EMS One Katowice 2014 and ESL One Cologne 2014 majors, and was later transferred to TSM in January 2015, eventually forming the nucleus of Astralis. The day after the TSM transfer, Dignitas acquired the Danish roster of Deponeret, parting ways with them on 19 December 2016. In March 2017, Dignitas fielded an international team with three former FaZe members, which disbanded in January 2018 after failing to qualify for the European CS:GO Minor. A North American roster was announced in February 2018 but dropped in August after relegation from the ESL Pro League. In January 2020, Dignitas signed the ex-Ninjas in Pyjamas roster and Håkon "hallzerk" Fjærli. On 17 August 2020, esports betting company VIE.gg acquired naming rights, rebranding the team to Dignitas VIE with an alternative red and black logo.

Fortnite

Dignitas entered Fortnite esports in May 2022 by signing Pgod, Mero, and Dukez to compete in the Fortnite Champion Series. The organization signed Bugha, winner of the 2019 Fortnite World Cup, the following year. On 11 April 2024, Dignitas announced it would compete in ESL Featuring Fortnite, a Squads-based variation separate from the Fortnite Championship Series.