Bleed Blue no more: Evil Geniuses cease operations after 27 years

Evil Geniuses will cease competitive and day-to-day operations on November 2, 2026, bringing an end to a 27-year run that began with five Quake players on Vancouver Island and culminated in world championships across Dota 2, Counter-Strike, Call of Duty and VALORANT.

CEO Chris DeAppolonio announced the decision on October 20, citing limited sponsorship opportunities and the rising cost of competing at the highest level as the primary factors. "Esports continues to face significant headwinds," DeAppolonio said. "Despite sustained investment and the dedication of the EG team, it's been concluded that the business cannot be operated responsibly in the current environment"

From a Quake clan to global brand

Evil Geniuses was founded in 1997 on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, by a group of five Quake players who were competing from an internet cafe.

The organisation entered Counter-Strike in 2001, beginning an FPS legacy that would define its early identity.

The 2000s brought expansion into StarCraft, Warcraft III, and fighting games, with EG becoming one of the first North American organisations to build a multi-title portfolio. Alex Garfield, who joined in 2004 and later served as CEO, oversaw much of this growth and helped establish EG as a powerhouse in the NA scene.

2008 and 2009 brought the first major pushes beyond shooters. EG signed a Defense of the Ancients roster in April 2008, made up of players from team eMg, though that squad left in December 2009 after two months of minimal practice. In April 2009, they launched a StarCraft: Brood War division around World Cyber Games USA champions Geoff "iNcontroL" Robinson and Dan "Nyoken" Eidson, among others, and it also housed Warcraft III names such as Manuel "Grubby" Schenkhuizen.

EG’s first major Counter-Strike title came in 2009 at IEM IV American Championship, followed by a World of Warcraft IEM IV World Championship in 2010.

Garfield's era and the GoodGame years

The 2010s began with a surge of expansion. EG moved into StarCraft II in 2010 with Gregory "IdrA" Fields and commentator Nick "Tasteless" Plott, and entered fighting games with Justin Wong and Martin.

Evil Geniuses was part of GoodGame Agency, which Alexander Garfield led and which also owned Alliance. In December 2014, Twitch announced it was acquiring GoodGame. EG's fighting game division, anchored by Yusuke Momochi, won the 2014 Capcom Cup and Evolution 2015, and its Call of Duty squad was among the best in the world until Aches, Crimsix, and Dedo left for OpTic in late 2014. EG also launched a Halo roster in November 2014.

In December 2016, EG and Alliance left GoodGame and became player-owned organisations, the point at which Dota 2 veteran Peter "ppd" Dager was named CEO.

The Dota 2 glory years

EG's Dota 2 division was built in 2011 after the first The International and would deliver the organisation's biggest achievement. After years of near-misses, including a third-place finish at TI4, in 2015 Clinton "Fear" Loomis, Syed "SumaiL" Hassan, Saahil "UNiVeRsE" Arora, Kurtis "Aui_2000" Ling, and Peter "ppd" Dager made Evil Geniuses the first and, to the present day, the only NA organisation to win The International.

Evil Geniuses remained a consistent presence in Dota 2 through the following years, with top finishes at multiple Majors including a runner-up finish at the ONE Esports Singapore Major in 2021 and a fourth-place finish at the Berlin Major in 2023. But the organisation's decision to relocate its Dota 2 roster to South America in 2019 drew criticism from fans and former leadership alike and eventually marked the end of their story in the Dota 2 space.

Counter-Strike: Peaks and valleys

EG's Counter-Strike history is one of the more complex threads in esports.

Their first CS story was built in the 1.6 era. EG was long known for Jordan "n0thing" Gilbert, signed in March 2008.Throughout the first years in the scene, they put together a Counter-Strike: Source division and won multiple events, including GameGune Mexico 2009 and Beat It! 2010. In January 2012, EG dismissed its Counter-Strike squad, ending that era.

They came back to CS:GO in September 2019 by buying the NRG Esports roster, including its ESL Pro League spot, the day before ESL One New York.

Tsvetelin "CeRq" Dimitrov, Vincent "Brehze" Cayonte, Ethan "Ethan" Arnold, Tarik "tarik" Celik, and Peter "stanislaw" Jarguz won ESL One New York 2019, defeating Astralis in the final, a result that signaled EG's return to the top tier of North American Counter-Strike.

However, the success proved difficult to sustain. EG cycled through rosters and struggled to recapture that form. In the post-COVID era, EG finished last in four seasons of the ESL circuit without reaching the playoffs once, and drew widespread criticism from its fans. In 2022, they created two academy rosters, EG Black and EG White, as part of a project called Blueprint, alongside a women's team.

At its height, EG held up to four CS rosters, but they were roundly mocked by the fans for their decision to sign two up and coming NA rosters (EG White and EG Black), which ended up stopping them from going to as many events as they couldn't compete with each other, effectively messing up multiple players’ careers at once. By the time of EG’s closure, its CS division had long since faded from the upper echelon of the scene.

A rebrand that broke trust

The final chapter of EG's story is inseparable from its 2019 rebrand.

After PEAK6 Investments acquired the organisation, Nicole LaPointe Jameson was named CEO, and EG unveiled a new wordmark logo and the slogan "LIVE EVIL". The response was immediate and brutal. Fans and former executives criticised the departure from the classic crest, and the rollout was widely panned.

A revised crest followed in May 2020, attempting to marry the old with the new, but the damage to community trust lingered. In 2024, under Chris DeAppolonio's leadership, EG announced a return to its original logo as part of a 25th-anniversary effort to rebuild goodwill.

By then, however, the organisation's competitive footprint had shrunk considerably. EG's VALORANT team won the 2023 Champions title, becoming the first NA team to do so, but failed to secure a partnership slot for the 2026 VCT season.

What remains

Evil Geniuses leaves behind a controversial legacy. At its best, EG was a championship outfit that proved North America could win at the highest level.

At its worst, it alienated its most loyal fans, mismanaged its most historic rosters, and struggled to adapt to an esports economy that has grown increasingly hostile to North American organisations. The closure comes less than a month after Complexity, another legacy NA brand, ceased operations after 23 years.

"To everyone who has ever worn the EG logo, to the fans who kept showing up, and to the partners who supported this org over the last 25+ years: thank you for everything," DeAppolonio said in the farewell message