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          Steve Aoki's Rogue signs Fortnite team

          Music producer and DJ Steve Aoki made his foray into esports official with the announcement that he's investing in team Rogue. Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
          • Imad Khan
          Jul 19, 2018, 08:03 PM

          Team Rogue has announced Wednesday that it has signed seven new players to its Fortnite squad. Joining Fortnite personality Benjamin "DrLupo" Lupo will be Robert "Gingerpop" Breakey, Finnley "gommru" Payton, Alex "AlexJJ" Campbell, Ryan "ipDRe" Haberkern, Luis "ZodiacTTV" Torres, Ryan "00flour" Borst, and John "WallHackJack" Franzen.

          With $100 million in prizes, it's no surprise that more teams are jumping into Fortnite, with Team Rogue, co-owned by record producer Steve Aoki, being the latest entrant.

          "DrLupo and I spent months going through hundreds of players to find the talented individuals that we announced today," Frank Villarreal, Rogue owner and co-founder, said in a press release. "We are committed to turning them into top competitors and personalities in Fortnite, and DrLupo and I will continue to push them to be the best influencers and players that they can be. We are committed to a spirit of individuality with these players and hope that the clash of personalities and styles will give fans a lot of entertainment."

          The players have some esports experience, too, so this will not be a freshman foray. For example, Gingerpop competed in Overwatch, gommru competed at a global elite rank in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and ipDRe led the now defunct Ph3nom Gaming Call of Duty 4 team. All seven players have shown strong performances in Fortnite.

          "We're all-in on Fortnite because we strongly believe in its future and want to invest in developing its talent. We have only seen the general gaming community be this passionate about a game twice before, with World of Warcraft and League of Legends," Villarreal told ESPN via email. "Together with DrLupo, we plan to develop these young players into entertaining personalities, as well as championship winning competitors, with the goal to become one of the largest Fortnite organizations in esports."

          At the heels of Team Rogue's Fortnite announcement also came news that it has disbanded its PUBG team. Epic's Fortnite Summer Skirmish Series continues this week after it's first attempt fell flat.