Evil Geniuses is a "skeleton crew," per former employee

In the latest negative headline for the Seattle-based organization, Evil Geniuses has been described as a "bare-bones skeleton crew" by former employees according to an exposé by Dot Esports reporter Scott Robertson. Robertson's reporting with three former employees describing a company in crisis, with claims of an understaffed organization, overworked employees, and "ineffective or poor leadership".

The exposé details instances of employee backfills not being approved, partner deliverables going unfulfilled, and a workplace culture compared to a "jail with snacks." Overall, Robertson's reporting adds another piece to the puzzle of EG's fall from grace, with multiple key departures affecting the company in 2023, including the recent exit of controversial CEO Nicole LaPointe Jameson.

From a Counter-Strike perspective, the signs of Evil Geniuses' struggles to stay afloat are evident, with Evil Geniuses notably dropping their two academy teams in 2023 along with their much-publicized failure to acquire a star-studded European core to replace their struggling team.

Additionally, this year has seen a number of departures of personnel involved with the Counter-Strike division. Over the course of 2023, Evil Geniuses has parted ways with, and failed to replace, the following personnel:

• Hal Sparks (Head of Player Administration)

• Renee Hall (Director of Gaming Operations)

• Nathan "madcow" Retterath (Player Manager)

• Danny Engels (Director of Gaming Strategy)

• Lindsey "GamerDoc" Migliore (Senior Director of Gaming & Performance)

While not all can be attributed to layoffs, the fact that equivalent positions have not been filled in the company should raise concerns for the future of the year heading into 2024. While Evil Geniuses confirmed the CS team would not be immediately impacted by the reduction in staff via layoffs, the state of one of the few orgs supporting a tier-one NA team should be concerning.