Evil Geniuses to cease operations after more than 25 years

Evil Geniuses will cease competitive and day-to-day operations on November 2, 2026, the organization announced on this Tuesday. The statement, signed by CEO Chris DeAppolonio, was posted on X and points to limited sponsorship and the rising cost of competing at the top level as the reasons the business could no longer be run responsibly. EG says it will wind down in an orderly way and work with the players, coaches and staff affected.

Every player on every roster is free to talk to other organizations starting immediately. The VALORANT players and coaches will be free to sign with new teams once the 2026 season ends on November 2, the same day operations stop. The CEO also asked any organization that is hiring to talk to EG’s players, creators and staff, and said he will personally vouch for them.

Evil Geniuses was founded in 1999, as a group of Quake players, and entered Counter-Strike in 2001. Over the next two decades it fielded teams in fighting games, Starcraft II, Call of Duty, Rainbow Six Siege, Rocket League, League of Legends and many other titles. Its biggest moment before VALORANT came in Dota 2. In 2015, EG became the first North American organization to win The International.

EG entered League of Legends in January 2013 by signing the European division of Counter Logic Gaming, and finished third in the EU LCS Spring 2013 split before moving to North America. It exits the league in 2015 and left the game for several years.

The return came in 2020, after buying Echo Fox’s franchise slot, and brought the organization’s biggest result in the game. EG finished third in the 2020 Spring Split and then won the LCS 2022 Spring title, sweeping 100 Thieves 3-0 in the final and becoming the fifth organization to win the league. EG left the LCS in November 2023, together with Golden Guardians.

EG joined VALORANT in 2021, but strengthened its project as one of the 40 partner teams in 2023. Its first season was very different from what came later. The team finished third in the VCT Americas and only reached the playoffs after MIBR beat 100 Thieves, a result that opened a spot. From there, EG qualified for Masters Tokyo, where it lost the final 3-0 to Fnatic, and for Champions in Los Angeles.

In Champions, EG lost to Paper Rex in the upper final, beat LOUD 3-2 in the lower final and then beat the Singaporean team 3-1 in the grand final. The roster earned $1 million and made EG the first North American organization to win the World Championship VALORANT title. The team was coached by Christine “potter” Chi, the only woman coaching one of the partner teams.

The following year was harder. As defending champions, EG missed Champions 2024 after failing to reach the VCT Americas and not having enough Championship Points. The offseason before that, the organization was close to leaving the franchised circuit. As Sheep Esports reported at the time, FlyQuest negotiated for months to buy EG’s VALORANT slot and roster, until Riot blocked the deal. EG had to keep a team in the league.

It stayed there until now, with results in the lower half of the table. EG finished 7th-8th at Kickoff and in Stage 2 in both 2025 and 2026, and had a fourth-place finish in Stage 1 2025 as its best result. This season, MIBR eliminated EG in the Stage 2 playoffs.

EG was not among the eight partner teams selected for the 2027-2028 cycle, and the announcement came shortly after the last VCT Americas spot was confirmed. EG’s Game Changers roster in Brazil also finished second in the Brazil Final Stage this year.