Evil Geniuses is closing. The North American organization announced on October 20 that it will cease competitive and day-to-day operations on November 2, 2026, ending a run that started with a group of Quake players on Vancouver Island in 1999 and produced world titles in Dota 2 and VALORANT.
What EG announced
The statement came from CEO Chris DeAppolonio, who pointed to two problems the whole industry keeps running into: limited sponsorship money and the rising cost of competing at the top level. He said the leadership team had stabilized the business and grown its output over the last few years, but concluded that EG “cannot be operated responsibly in the current environment.”
EG says it will wind down in an orderly way and work with every affected player, coach and staff member. DeAppolonio also asked other teams and employers to look at EG’s people, saying he would personally vouch for each of them.
What happens to the players
Players on every EG roster are free to talk to other organizations immediately. The one exception is VALORANT: those players and coaches cannot sign anywhere until the 2026 season ends on November 2, the same day EG closes its doors. That timing drops them straight into the VCT offseason, which is already moving fast after Riot confirmed its 2027 partner teams this week.
The announcement did not say what happens to the EG brand itself or to its creator roster after November 2.
Second big North American exit in a month
EG is not an isolated case. Complexity Gaming ceased operations after 23 years, with founder Jason Lake confirming the closure on September 23 and revealing the decision had been made at the end of 2025. Losing two of North America’s oldest brands within a month says a lot about where team economics stand heading into 2027.
Former EG figures reacted quickly. Dota 2 veteran Jacob “Maelk” Toft-Andersen called the closure sad but inevitable, and defended the current leadership as well-intentioned people who inherited damage they could not undo. Peter “ppd” Dager, captain of the 2015 International-winning roster, wrote that in hindsight he would have dropped every team except Dota and moved the organization to Europe.
Evil Geniuses’ biggest wins
- The International 2015 (Dota 2): still the only TI won by a North American team, with Fear, SumaiL, UNiVeRsE, Aui_2000 and ppd. SumaiL became the youngest player to lift the Aegis.
- 2018 Call of Duty World League Championship.
- ESL One New York 2019 (CS:GO).
- 2022 LCS Spring split title (League of Legends).
- VALORANT Champions 2023: the first world title for a North American VALORANT team, coached by Christine “potter” Chi with Ethan, Boostio, Demon1, jawgemo and C0M.
- Fighting games: multiple EVO wins through players such as Justin Wong and Momochi, with SonicFox also wearing the EG jersey.
Over 27 years the tag also carried StarCraft legends Jaedong and IdrA, Dota stars Arteezy, Cr1t-, Fly and Abed, and League players Impact, Inspired and Jojopyun. Few esports organizations can match that list. From November 2, it becomes history.
Image credit: Evil Geniuses.
