Evil Geniuses is shutting down. The organization announced on October 20, 2026 that it will cease competitive and day-to-day operations on November 2, ending a run of more than 25 years that took it from a Canadian Quake clan to world titles in Dota 2 and VALORANT.
In a statement signed by CEO Chris DeAppolonio, EG said it had spent the last few years rebuilding: stabilizing operations, restoring public sentiment, growing its creator roster and expanding into new titles. It wasn’t enough. “Esports continues to face significant headwinds, including limited sponsorship and the rising cost of competing at the top level,” the statement reads. “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.”
What happens to the players
EG says it will wind down “in an orderly way” and work with every affected player, coach and staff member. Every player on every roster is free to talk to other organizations starting today. The VALORANT players and coaches can sign with new teams once the 2026 season ends on November 2, the same day the doors close.
DeAppolonio also made a direct ask to anyone hiring: “I will personally vouch for every player, creator, and staff member who worked here.” He invited teams and companies with openings to contact him at deapps@evilgeniuses.gg, saying his goal is to help as many EG people as possible land new roles over the next few months.
From a Quake clan to a household name
EG started in the late 1990s as a Quake clan in Victoria, British Columbia, playing out of a local cyber cafe. Alex Garfield, who would later run the organization as CEO, joined in 2004, and EG spent the next decade becoming one of the first true multi-game brands in North America. It fielded Counter-Strike and World of Warcraft Arena teams, won the Intel Extreme Masters IV World of Warcraft world championship in 2010, and kept adding games as the scene grew.
The StarCraft years
For a lot of fans, EG means StarCraft. The org entered Brood War in April 2009 with a group of American players led by Geoff “iNcontroL” Robinson, and moved into StarCraft II as the game launched. In September 2010 it signed Greg “IdrA” Fields, the American who had trained in Korea with CJ Entus and was widely seen as one of the best non-Korean players in the world. In early 2011 he reached the quarterfinals of GOMTV’s Sponsorship League in Korea, knocking out Brood War legend NaDa along the way.
In August 2011 EG picked up Chris “HuK” Loranger from Team Liquid, and he moved to South Korea with IdrA and PuMa to train inside the SlayerS team house. That October, HuK won MLG Orlando 2011, which made him the first player to win two MLG championships. IdrA, meanwhile, was a fixture of MLG brackets: a champion at MLG D.C. in 2010, a regular top-four finisher after that, and the most talked-about player in the room whether he was winning or rage-quitting.
iNcontroL became the face of the team off the server, too. He captained the squad, co-hosted the State of the Game podcast and later moved into casting and analysis. His death on July 20, 2019, at 33, hit the StarCraft community hard. IdrA’s EG run ended in May 2013 after a string of in-game and forum outbursts, and EG closed its StarCraft II division entirely on January 1, 2017, which also marked the end of HuK’s playing career.
The International 2015
EG’s biggest win came in Dota 2. On August 8, 2015, at KeyArena in Seattle, Evil Geniuses beat China’s CDEC Gaming in the grand final of The International 2015. The roster of Fear, ppd, UNiVeRsE, Aui_2000 and a 16-year-old SumaiL took home $6,616,014, and EG became the first American-based team to win the event. The org went on to finish third at The International 2018, one of many deep runs in a Dota program that lasted more than a decade.
Counter-Strike, the LCS and a VALORANT crown
Chicago investment firm PEAK6 bought EG in 2019, and the org went on a spending run. It returned to Counter-Strike by signing the NRG roster and won ESL One New York 2019 over Astralis, 3-1 in the final. It bought into the League of Legends LCS and won the 2022 Spring title with a 3-0 sweep of 100 Thieves, its first LCS championship.
Then came VALORANT. After a 1-4 start to the 2023 season, EG moved Demon1 into the starting lineup, finished second at Masters Tokyo, and then won VALORANT Champions 2023, beating LOUD 3-2 in the lower final and Paper Rex 3-1 in the grand final. It was the first time a North American team had won the event.
The hard years
The title runs didn’t last. EG moved its Dota 2 operation from North America to South America in late 2022 and released that roster in November 2023. The same month it announced it was leaving the LCS, and in January 2024 it exited Counter-Strike. Most of the VALORANT championship roster left after being offered pay cuts. DeAppolonio’s rebuild kept the VALORANT team alive and grew the creator side, but the statement makes clear that the money to compete at the top just wasn’t there.
It’s another blow for a scene that has spent the last few years shrinking, and losing an organization this old stings more than most. EG wasn’t just a logo on a jersey. For many fans in North America, it was the first esports team they ever cheered for.
A personal thank-you
I want to step out of news mode for a second. I followed EG through the StarCraft II and MLG days, when a weekend meant a bracket stream on one screen and team forums on the other. HuK’s MLG Orlando run, iNcontroL’s voice on the desk and on State of the Game, and IdrA’s games, which you watched knowing he could either crush someone or tap out in frustration at any moment: those are some of my favorite memories of watching games, full stop.
So to HuK, to IdrA, to the late iNcontroL, and to everyone who wore the EG logo over the last 25-plus years: thank you. You gave me a lot of good memories, and I won’t forget them. GG, Evil Geniuses.
Header photo: Evil Geniuses lift the Aegis of Champions at The International 2015 (opterown, CC BY-SA 4.0). Player and event photos via Wikimedia Commons, credited in each caption.
