EG Director of Gaming Strategy exits organization

Last night, Evil Geniuses' Director of Gaming Strategy, Danny Engels, announced his departure from the Seatle-based organization. Engels' departure from EG comes after 1.5 years with organization in various roles including Head of Gaming Business, Head of Gaming Revenue, and Head of Gaming Strategy.

Engels' decision to step down from Evil Geniuses comes as the German has returned home to Trier after multiple years living in the United States. In his tweet, Engels discussed his time living in the Pacific Northwest fondly despite overall leaving the country with "mixed feelings." Engels recently suffered a heart attack, but has fortunately recovered enough to make the trip back to Germany in good health.

In a comment to Dust2.us, Engels said that this departure from Evil Geniuses is unrelated to recent events or his health scare, and that he voluntarily chose to leave to search for other opportunities and career development.

While Engels' departure from Evil Geniuses was voluntary, it follows a number of layoffs and departures within the organization, including in the CS:GO division. At the start of 2023, Evil Geniuses parted ways with manager Matthew "Sunshine" Spindel. This was followed by EG laying off Head of Player Administration Hal Sparks, while Director of Gaming Operations also exited the organization in April.

More recently, EG also parted ways with Assistant Coach Alan "Shakezullah" Hardeman and Player Manager Nathan "madcow" Retterath, leaving the organization far leaner than at the height of the Blueprint Project.

It is unknown how Engels' departure will affect EG's operations though he mentioned to Dust2.us that his role had been reduced in recent months as part of a wind down to his exit. However, it will be interesting to see if and when the position is filled amidst a difficult economic situation across the esports landscape.