Jimmy Baratta has a story that warrants itself to be told. As unlikely as it seems, it could serve as a great motivator for various individuals to actually reach out for their true passions in life. Rather than just following a comfortably set path, Jimmy has always been in control of his own destiny. Much of it is in full display as he enters the gaming and esports scene after being formally trained as a civil litigation attorney for over seven years.
It may seem unusual to most, but Jimmy Baratta left the high profile world of law and decided to pursue his one true passion in life. It just happened to be video gaming.
In 2017, Jimmy Baratta founded his own business, FT Empire, to provide business advice in esports. Under this umbrella, he founded ICEBRKRSCLAN – a gaming and esports brand that has garnered over 2,000,000 followers across its social platforms and accounts. The ICEBRKRSCLAN founders go by the video game aliases Jimbodanks, Aytown808 and Br0wnbe4r. Founders include Jimmy Baratta, Anthony K. Morgan, and Krishna W. Sani of Orange County, California. ICE began as close group of friends that would play Bungie’s Destiny. Their favorite weapon in the game was a sniper rifle called the icebreaker, giving rise to the name and formation of ICEBRKRSCLAN. Jimmy and the Founders began posting their clips to social media – most notably Instagram in or around 2017. The clan has since expanded to include nearly 30 content creators/competitors, with an estimated social reach exceeding 2 million viewers across a variety of niche game pages and accounts. Baratta states that ICE clan is a toxic-free clan, “where gamers become friends.” All members are followed by their Instagram page as well as given membership permissions in their clan Discord server.
Due to the rise in popularity with the game Fortnite, Jimmy states that ICE shifted focus in 2018 and 2019, almost exclusively on Fortnite, by Epic Games. Today, ICEBRKRSCLAN features content creators and competitors in a variety of games ranging from Call of Duty, Fortnite, Rainbow 6 Seige, Counter Strike Global Offensive, Apex Legends, Valorant, NBA2k, and more. The clan offers its members and creators to play any and all games of interest, and across all platforms including PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Mobile.
In addition to ICE, Jimmy consults for entertainment law firm Granderson des Rochers out of Beverly Hills. His business development advisory role with the firm allows Jimmy to collaborate with their most famous talents that are interested in the gaming industry. In 2018, he collaborated with the FaZe Clan seed investor Dave Chen to establish a non-profit collegiate league dubbed the NACL. The success of NACL spread like wildfire, allowing them to be featured in various press articles from prestigious institutions such as Yahoo Finance and Forbes, and gain other partners including David Meltzer, Lawrence Chia, and Mark Cuban’s 3 Commas clothing. In 2020, Jimmy Baratta welcomed the year with sheer positivity as he took up the role of Director of Talent for VY Esports on their event “EDGE. Jimmy Baratta has recently found himself with various roles and projects. He consults for some of the top organizations in esports news and competition today. He is also heavily involved in a handful of rising startups covering everything from tournament infrastructure, to broadcast and production.
Jimmy is pretty sure with everything that has happened in his career so far, he has managed to push all the boundaries and innovate parts of the gaming industry by connecting it to a wider audience. Gaming truly is a powerful unifier, and Jimmy Baratta makes sure to highlight all of the positivity that it can do, so the world will finally see what video games are capable of.
To know more about Jimmy Baratta and every detail of his gaming and esports career, make sure to drop by his official LinkedIn page.
