Evil Geniuses

Evil Geniuses: A legendary esports organization founded in 1997.

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Evil Geniuses (EG) is an American esports organization based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1999, the organization has fielded players in various fighting games, Call of Duty, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, Fortnite Battle Royale, Halo, League of Legends, Valorant, StarCraft II, Rocket League, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege, and World of Warcraft. In May 2019, EG was acquired by PEAK6, a Chicago-based investment company. While independently owned at the time of the acquisition, it was formerly a subsidiary of GoodGame Agency, which in turn was owned by Amazon.com through its division Twitch. EG's Dota 2 team won The International 2015, receiving more than $6.6 million, the largest prize payout in esports history at the time. Their Valorant team won the 2023 Valorant Champions.

Quick Facts

Sport

Valorant

Founded

1999

City

Seattle, Washington, United States

Coach

Christine Chi (Valorant)

Manager

Matthew Speidel (Head of Gaming)

Partners

Wolverhampton Wanderers
Secretlab
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
LG UltraGear

Parent group

PEAK6

Lore & Background

Evil Geniuses was founded as a Quake clan in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, in 1999. Playing from the first cyber cafe in Victoria, the Underground Onramp, the original roster included Dakine, MikeJ, Killboy, Zakath, Muppetman, Jello and the EG girls featured in Wired Magazine, Jasp and Mystique. Many new members located in Seattle joined the clan and would regularly spar with members of DR including the world's first pro gamer, Thresh. Members from both the Canadian and American roster were present during the 1997 Gameworks Tournament.

Canadian players were not admitted into the tournament at the time but were allowed to warm up with the contestants. When the Underground Onramp closed, most of the Canadian roster went on to new careers, while the American roster flourished. Philadelphia native and future CEO Alex Garfield started working for the team in 2004. Evil Geniuses expanded into World of Warcraft Arena by acquiring HukHukHukHukHuk in 2007.

In 2008, EG later acquired Isaac "Azeal" Cummings-Bentley, Conrad "Zyz" Lope, Dan "spoh" Street, Emerson "Woundman" Condon, Charles "Cdew" Dewland, and Tim "Kollektiv" Yen, forming a new 3v3 arena team. Notable accomplishments include winning the 2007 US Arena Championship, placing 3rd at Blizzcon 2007, winning MLG San Diego 2008, placing 4th at Blizzcon 2012, and winning the Intel Extreme Masters IV WoW World Championship (2010). EG acquired a Defense of the Ancients roster on April 12, 2008.

EG entered the StarCraft: Brood War scene on April 25, 2009. EG saw its North American DotA squad depart on December 3, 2009. EG expanded into StarCraft II in 2010 with the recruitment of Gregory "IdrA" Fields and Nick "Tasteless" Plott on September 9. On October 9, 2010, EG acquired the brand of fellow North American gaming organization, Loaded, but the deal only constituted the company sponsors, team owner and their Heroes of Newerth squad.

In 2010, EG expanded into fighting games by signing Justin Wong and Martin "Marn" Phan. On March 31, 2011, Manuel "Grubby" Schenkhuizen and Nick "Tasteless" Plott departed. EG lost its Heroes of Newerth squad on July 8 to SK Gaming. Near the end of July 2011, Ho Joon "PuMa" Lee joined EG.

Three weeks later, Chris "HuK" Loranger joined EG. On October 21, 2011, it was announced that the trio would be moving to stay with the South Korean team SlayerS.

Reader's Guide

Evil Geniuses is an American esports organization founded in 1997. It has competed in numerous games including Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, Valorant, and more. The organization was acquired by PEAK6 in May 2019. Key achievements include winning The International 2015 (Dota 2), the 2018 Call of Duty Championship, and the 2023 Valorant Champions.