ESL declared that Evil Geniuses would be ending their collaboration with the TO after the American company decided not to take part in the agreement referred to as the "Louvre Agreement." The announcement comes after multiple reports linking EG to a formal departure from the League of Legends League Championship Series (LCS), another major esports franchise.
Evil Geniuses have abandoned nearly every esport but Valorant in the last few months. Given that they recently took home an international VCT trophy, the partnership circuit still values their position and their reputation highly. Aside from that, EG doesn't seem to be interested in continuing with their esports business.
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Evil Geniuses To Leave Esports All Together?
The announcement aligns with ongoing speculation that Evil Geniuses intends to completely give up on esports. EG has been selling off its CS2 division piece by piece. The only players still actively contracted are Walco and Autimatic. It doesn't appear likely that the CS2 team will ever compete under the same banner again. The rumors gained further traction when Evil Geniuses sold Cloud9 its BLAST Partnership slot a few days ago. The main core of the Counter-Strike lineup had previously parted ways with Evil Geniuses in recent weeks. Postma Jadan "HexT" and Vincent "Brehze" Cayonte moved to NRG in late November, and on Thursday, Paytyn "junior" Johnson and George "George" Endicott followed Brehze to Nouns.
By being part of the 'Louvre Agreement' since its creation in 2020, Evil Geniuses were entitled to a share of the revenue split as well as automatic invitations to every season of the ESL Pro League and a few other ESL events. Evil Geniuses continued to be a part of the "Louvre Agreement" even though they were routinely the lowest-performing partnered team, finishing in last place in four of the last six ESL Pro League seasons and missing the playoffs in two of those seasons. This ongoing partnership continued even after an obligation was introduced that stated if a partner team finished last in three of the last four seasons, their permanent spot would be reconsidered.
Since Evil Geniuses have officially been a part of Counter-Strike since 2001, their departure from the game ends an era that lasted more than 20 years. It's unclear whether Evil Geniuses is planning a formal exit soon or if they plan to re-enter the esports scene after being trounced over the last few months.