Six FaZe Creators Launch CORE Group at $20M Content House
Six FaZe creators launched CORE, a $20M creator-owned content house. The move signals a broader industry shift toward creator control and away from corporate ownership models.
Six creators who left FaZe Clan in December 2025 launched a new group called CORE on April 30, 2026. The collective is creator-owned and based at a US$20 million content house.
The founding members are Marlon, Adapt, Lacy, Stable Ronaldo, Silky, and JasonTheWeen. All six were previously signed to FaZe Clan and participated in the Christmas Day 2025 mass exodus that effectively ended FaZe's content division.
Creator Group Built Around Ownership and Flat Governance
CORE stands for Create, Own, Run, Everything. The name reflects the group's governing philosophy: each member retains full control over their brand, revenue streams, and content schedule.
Mission MediaThe group operates from a shared US$20 million content house, a format central to FaZe Clan's early identity. Dexerto reported that the structure is intentionally flat, with no central management layer holding equity over individual creators.
CORE's YouTube channel gained 100,000 subscribers within seven hours of launch. Google's automated security systems briefly shut the channel down due to multiple simultaneous logins before it was restored.
FaZe Banks, FaZe Clan's former CEO, is not a CORE member. He said in a livestream that he is supporting the group's mission. "I thought in good faith that if we did a good job, we'd figure the business out later," Banks said, acknowledging the financial uncertainty that preceded the creators' departure.
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FaZe Clan's Collapse Preceded the Launch by Five Months
CORE's formation follows the near-total collapse of FaZe Clan as a content organization. The group that launched CORE walked out on Christmas Day 2025 after six months of failed contract negotiations with HardScope, a management firm backed by GameSquare, FaZe's parent company.
Reports indicated GameSquare sought a 20% cut of creators' personal brand earnings, a condition the departing members rejected. FaZe Media subsequently shut down, leaving only FaZe Esports operational under GameSquare.
The broader FaZe financial story had begun years earlier. FaZe Clan went public via a US$725 million SPAC merger on NASDAQ in July 2022. The IPO struggled immediately: 92% of SPAC shareholders redeemed their investments, and the stock fell nearly 25% on its first trading day. An additional US$71.4 million in promised investment funding defaulted shortly after. GameSquare acquired what remained of FaZe for US$17 million in March 2024, representing a 98% decline from the IPO valuation.
Adapt, who had been a FaZe member for 14 years before leaving, described the decision as painful but necessary. "Over half of my life, I'd be lying if I said this didn't hurt, but it had to be done," he said.
CORE Founders Cite Creator Ownership as the Model's Foundation
The creators behind CORE described the new group as a return to the culture that made FaZe Clan successful in its early years. That culture centered on vlog-style content produced by creators living together, without the overhead and governance structures that came with FaZe's public market expansion.
Mission MediaFaZe Banks, who is not a CORE member, acknowledged the gap between FaZe's corporate direction and the needs of its creators. "I sold the boys a dream on FaZe being the biggest thing ever," he said in a separate statement.
The creator economy in 2026 is seeing a broader shift away from corporate-owned creator organizations toward smaller, creator-controlled collectives. CORE launched with no external investors and no management layer with equity over individual members.
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