Team Nigma, a household name made up of The International 2016 champions, has announced a merger with Galaxy Racer to combine Galaxy Racer’s large esports, content, and lifestyle brand with the competitive expertise of Nigma. With this move, Galaxy Racer’s VALORANT teams will now compete under the Nigma Galaxy and Nigma Galaxy Female banners.
Nigma Galaxy will lead Galaxy Racer’s esports team section, which presently boasts rosters across all major games with around 60 players from over 20 countries.
According to the release, NGX will operate as a standalone entity with a separate budget, brand, and identity. The esports division will be led by Team Nigma’s Co-founders Mohamed Morad, Christoph Timm, and Kuro Salehi Takhasomi. Galaxy Racer will continue to focus on their current Content Creators while expanding their operations into areas such as merchandising, tournament administration, and possibly a record label.
“We are excited to announce our merger with Team Nigma to transform our competitive esports division into Nigma Galaxy,” said Paul Roy, CEO and Founder of Galaxy Racer. “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.”
Since its inception in 2019 by Morad, Timm, and the majority of Team Liquid’s The International Seven-winning Dota 2 roster, Nigma has quickly established itself as a competitive organization, securing a landmark partnership with Etihad Airways, the UAE’s national airline. Team Nigma, based in Abu Dhabi, has collaborated with one of the region’s major telecom providers, Etisalat, to organize the largest Dota 2 competition in the MENA region – ‘Rising Stars’.
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“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,” Morad said. “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.”
“I’m happy about the Galaxy Racer and Team Nigma merger because it’s a good opportunity to be in this team and represent it in future VALORANT tournaments,” says Shara “Ayaaa” Koshikawa to VALO2ASIA.
Alongside having a range of competitive rosters in MENA, Galaxy Racer also has teams across other regions such as Europe and Southeast Asia. NGX has said that it plans to grow further in Europe, South and North America, Southeast Asia, and China by “using existing resources” from Galaxy Racer.
NGX’s lineups, which hasn’t changed after the merger, are:
Nigma Galaxy:
- 🇵🇭 Enrico “Ching” Perez
- 🇵🇭 Carlo “Karl” Ocampo
- 🇵🇭 Ronard “Yohann” Tecson
- 🇵🇭 Emmanuel “Emman” Morales
- 🇵🇭 George “Georggyyy” Lachica
- 🇵🇭 Franz “Astro” Del Rosario
Nigma Galaxy Female:
- 🇵🇭 Hanna “Hanuh” Alyssa Bermejo
- 🇵🇭 Tiara “Alluka” Pleno
- 🇵🇭 Regina “Ivory” Lopez
- 🇵🇭 Shara “Ayaaa” Koshikawa
- 🇵🇭 Kyung-in “Tr1cks” Lee
- 🇸🇬 Chloe “Chloettw” Wong Ting Ting
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Cover photo courtesy of WePlay! Esports
