Ibai Llanos Garatea is the largest European streamer on Twitch, where he mainly showcases Minecraft and League of Legends. In LoL, he also has his own team in the European league. However, things are currently uneasy there, which means a lot of work for the 28-year-old.
What kind of team is it? KOI is a Spanish e-sports organization founded in December 2021 by Ibai Llanos, the largest European Twitch streamer, and footballer Gerard Piqué. In October 2022, KOI teamed up with Rogue and took over their teams as well as their spot in the European LoL league, the LEC.
However, by the end of August 2023, financial difficulties became apparent. The Spanish-speaking blog Esportmaniacos reported that Ibai had paid 3 million euros out of his own pocket to cover the players’ salaries and the team’s gaming house.
Despite the efforts of the Twitch streamer, the players now seem to be looking for other teams.
In Europe, there are several LoL teams founded by content creators. In Germany, it is the YouTuber HandOfBlood who wants to lead his Eintracht Spandau into the LEC:
Ibai: ‘This is not healthy and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone’
What is the current situation? According to our colleagues at 3DJuegos, Ibai received the news while he was live on air commenting on the Worlds in LoL.
Four of the five active players on his LoL team posted nearly identical messages on X, formerly Twitter, at 12:00 on October 20, 2023: ‘Even though I am still in talks with KOI for next year, they have allowed me to explore options for 2024.’
The Twitch streamer apparently had no prior knowledge of this announcement. However, Ibai emphasized that nobody at KOI should stay who is not happy there. He doesn’t want that, said the Twitch streamer. ‘If a player wants to wait for our offer, […] then that’s great. If they don’t want to because they want to sign for another team, they naturally have every right to do so.’
Although it is not unusual for e-sports players to publicly announce their availability, the action of the KOI players is surprising in two respects. Not only was Ibai, as a co-founder, not informed of the plans beforehand, but the timing is also striking. After all, KOI is currently in the process of restructuring. However, it seems the players do not want to wait that long.
However, the Twitch streamer does not seem to be considering giving up his organization. He says he is working ‘literally 17 hours a day’ to turn things around for the organization next year. ‘This is not healthy and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, but I want to create the best possible project for 2024,’ says Ibai.
He strongly advises against copying him: ‘Please don’t take me as a role model for anything, because I know myself that what I’m doing [working so many hours] is not right.’
Other Twitch streamers are also struggling with their e-sports teams: Twitch streamer starts his own team, 1 million dollars later he criticizes e-sports: ‘Everyone is losing a lot of money’
Ibai criticizes lack of professionalism in e-sports
Where does the Twitch streamer see the problem? For Ibai, the lack of professionalism in e-sports is the reason for the sudden announcement of his players. Players are surrounded by agents and representatives who are neither professional nor qualified for their job.
These agents would pressure the often young players to sign as quickly as possible and for as much money as possible with the first team they find, to collect their commission, said the Twitch streamer. ‘Unfortunately, this is the problem we have in e-sports, that we are in an ecosystem surrounded by very few professionals.’
It remains to be seen how things will progress for KOI, and whether they will need to set up a completely new roster for 2024.
Alongside the restructuring of his organization, there is also a change in Ibai’s work as a content creator: Twitch: The second-largest streamer in Europe no longer wants to be a streamer – Even number 1 is shaking
