Official: Evil Geniuses exit CS
After a slow exodus of players after the past month, Evil Geniuses have today confirmed their departure from Counter-Strike, seeing the troubled organization exit after treading water for a number of months. The decision comes following earlier reporting by Richard Lewis that suggested this decision had been long in the works as part of EG's gradual ceasing of operations.
The Peak6-owned organization initially entered CS:GO to much fanfare with the signing of NRG's lineup — considered one of the best teams in the world back in 2019. However, as this honeymoon wouldn't last long as after an initial period of success, things slowly started to go awry under the leadership of CEO Nicole LaPointe Jameson. During the next four years, EG would field roster after roster attempting to build something sustainable and successful, however due to a variety of factors, incompetence being a key one, none of these squads would find the success expected from a tier-one organization.
Fielding no less than 18 players on their main roster along with 10 coaches over the past four years, EG tried everything from NA stars to EU journeymen, however with it being 1,538 days since their last LAN trophy clearly something had to give. Amidst the background of the esports winter and the litany of controversies in EG's other esports titles, EG's exit from CS can serve as a case study for what can happen when a storied brand is wielded by esports outsiders with no clear vision for what it takes to generate and sustain a successful program.
In the tweet announcing their departure, EG suggested a return to CS could be on the cards, even retaining Soham "valens" Chowdhury in a shiny new title, however considering the damage Peak6 did to the EG brand, it may be best to shelve the Geniuses for now. So long EG, and thanks for all the memes.
