MIDDLE EAST MERGER: GALAXY RACER & TEAM NIGMA FORM ‘NIGMA GALAXY’

Galaxy Racer, the MENA and SEA based esports, content, and lifestyle organisation, has merged with Team Nigma, the biggest competitive gaming team in the MENA region, to become Nigma Galaxy. 

Abu Dhabi-based Nigma Galaxy will head up the esports team division of Galaxy Racer, which currently fields rosters across all major titles, with more than 60 players from over 20 countries. The merger is aimed at fueling growth across the MENA region and beyond, while also allowing both brands to retain their own visual identities. 

Since launching in 2019, Galaxy Racers has rapidly grown into one of the world’s biggest esports organisations, and remains the only such entity based in the MENA region that has a significant international presence. The organisation currently has five separate business offerings; Esports Teams, Content Creators, Tournaments Management, Merchandising and Lifestyle and GXR Records, a newly established record label that already carries two signed artists from MENA. 

Galaxy Racer currently carries over 80 creators with a reach of over 330 million followers across all platforms. Its content creators roster includes some of the biggest YouTube channels with over 2 billion views across all platforms; Abo Flah, the biggest and fastest-growing gaming channel in the Arabic speaking world. Galaxy Racer also carries esports rosters across all major titles including League of Legends, VALORANT, CS:GO, Free Fire, PUBG MOBILE, BGMI and Fortnite.

Paul Roy, CEO and Founder of Galaxy Racer, commented: “We are excited to announce our merger with Team Nigma to transform our competitive esports division into Nigma Galaxy. Team Nigma’s leadership team carries vast experience as professional players, which we believe will be a great asset to building and supporting all the teams under the Nigma Galaxy banner.

“Celebrating and nurturing the untapped gaming community around the world is what Galaxy Racer was founded on. With this merger, we believe we will be able to truly unlock this potential and shape the future of esports on a global scale.”

Team Nigma was founded as a professional Dota 2 esports organisation in 2019 by former Team Liquid members Mohamed Morad and Christoph Timm as well as four out of five of the champions of The International 2017, Miracle-, Gh, MinD_ContRoL and KuroKy. Notably, Team Nigma secured a partnership with Etihad Airways, becoming the first esports team to be sponsored by an airline. Team Nigma also recently partnered with one of the largest telco providers, Etisalat, hosting the biggest Dota 2 tournament in the MENA region –  ‘Rising Stars’.

Mohammed Morad, Co-Founder of Team Nigma, added: “We are thrilled to announce our merger with Galaxy Racer. Galaxy Racer has a brilliant understanding of the entertainment business and together we share a mutual passion for supporting and nurturing talent within the MENA region. There is also a lot of natural synergy between our brands with Nigma meaning “star” in Arabic. Before this merger, Nigma was a single star. By becoming Nigma Galaxy, we will have a Galaxy full of stars.”

Nigma Galaxy will operate as a standalone entity with its own budget, brand, direction and identity, retaining the current Team Nigma colours. While Galaxy Racer will also retain its brand identity and will be able to focus on developing its already-robust content creator structure and additional branches to the business.

AYO.NEWS says:

It’s always great to see esports organisations prospering, but there’s still a gigantic elephant in the room for any brand operating out of the UAE – the appalling human rights record of their host nation – something that is impossible to reconcile in an industry that prides itself on equality and inclusivity. 

Illustrating this contradiction perfectly was the news, released earlier this month, that Waverider and Galaxy Rider have teamed up to organise the inaugural edition of POPC Live! in Dubai – an event billed to showcase Dubai as a “leading destination for culture, innovation, and talent.”