As Evil Geniuses gradually exits the competitive Counter-Strike scene, they have dissolved the EG Gold roster; their female CS2 team
Credit: Thunderpick
In a year marked by a surge in viewership for female Esports teams, Evil Geniuses has made the decision to part ways with their all-women’s CS2 squad. Juliana “Juli” Tosic, who was part of the team until December 25, revealed to Dust2.us that her and her teammates’ contracts had expired on Christmas Day.
EG Gold Ends Their Brief CS2 Voyage
Evil Geniuses ventured into the womens’ Counter-Strike arena with EG Gold in August 2022. Their journey, however, was confined to a single offline showcase at the ESL Impact Season 2 Finals.
With EG pulling out, FlyQuest RED stands as the only professionally-backed women’s team in North America. This change comes after ESL opted to decrease the region’s guaranteed spots at offline Impact finals to three annually (two at Season 5 finals and one at Season 6).
Evil Geniuses Preparing to Leave the Esports Scene Altogether?
The release of the lineup shows that Evil Geniuses is slowly reducing their esports activities. This matches earlier reports by Richard Lewis in November about their plan to leave Counter-Strike. It’s a clear sign that they’re changing their focus on esports.
The latest development comes after Evil Geniuses relinquished their BLAST Premier slot, which Cloud9 later claimed. The organization has also terminated its partnership with ESL and dropped out of the Copenhagen Major RMR’s NA closed qualifiers.
Effective 1 January 2024, Evil Geniuses and ESL have mutually agreed to end the team’s participation in the Louvre Agreement.
The #ESLProLeague Member slot previously held by EG will now be added to the pool available based on the ESL World Ranking, starting with Season 19.
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) December 22, 2023
Counter-Strike is not the only discipline Evil Geniuses is considering closing shop on. They have limited their activities across all titles other than Valorant.
This sight is disheartening for Esports enthusiasts, considering that Evil Geniuses was one of the pioneering entities in the Esports landscape. Since its launch in 1999, the North American outfit has been part of many immortal Esports moments.
One ex-employee stated that the organization has been running with minimal staff for most of 2023, creating a tough workplace for its employees. Another source characterized the workplace as a “snack prison,” where overworked employees struggled to meet promised objectives.
Evil Geniuses confirmed the dissolution of their Dota 2 roster on November 1, 2023. Soon afterward, famous Esports reporter Richard Lewis reported that EG is contemplating a similar move for their Counter-Strike division. At the start of this year, Evil Geniuses had four Counter-Strike teams. Following the recent disbandment of EG Gold, however, only their core roster remains.
Back in June 2023, the team underwent a significant overhaul in their roster, signing four new players: Colby “Walco” Walsh, Jeorge “Jeorge” Endicott, Jadan “HexT” Postma, and Payton “junior” Johnson. Despite the changes, the roster failed to deliver the expected results.
Evil Geniuses’ Counter-Strike endeavors began as early as 2001. That means the reported dissolution of their CS2 division will conclude a remarkable journey that spanned two decades.
Evil Geniuses was one of the most successful teams at the beginning of the competitive Counter-Strike era, but it did not significantly improve the organization’s financial status. Back then, teams competed for mere thousands, a far cry from today’s million-dollar prize pools that have become the standard.
While EG made a noticeable mark in Counter-Strike’s early stages, the North American organization consistently lagged behind Europe’s powerhouse teams. Following a string of average performances at home, EG opted to withdraw from ESL right after parting ways with BLAST, hinting at their probable departure from Counter-Strike entirely.
The question of whether Evil Geniuses can stage a comeback in the esports arenas they’ve departed from in recent months remains unanswered. There’s uncertainty about whether they’re strategizing to re-enter the scene or if they’re gearing up for an official departure in the coming days or weeks. As of now, the future of the organizations hangs in the balance.