This saddens me immensely. It was, however, inevitable. Despite best efforts and intentions of this last edition of EG leadership, I’m afraid nothing could have salvaged the damage caused before them. Founder-led organizations face this problem time and time again, and it’s all but obvious that there’s no playbook in esports that have found a solution to maintain brand identity, vision and growth, once the original creators leave. Evil Geniuses was a brand that I had the pleasure of both playing and working for at the height of their success (2011-2013). I took immense pride in bleeding blue both in- and out of game, and I was surrounded by people who felt as passionate as I did. That’s rare. When Alex, Colin and the rest of the company had to move on, it was already the beginning of the end. Phil lead a shadow of its former self as best he could with little resources at his disposal, and when Peak6 came in and threw their financial weight around, so too did a level of arrogance I’ve never witnessed before or since (which is ironic, as both the original EG and 100 Thieves to some extent was in part built on what I like to think of as “positive arrogance”). Handing over the reins from Phil to Nicole was the ultimate death warrant. Sure, she was smart and certainly tried to lean into various ways of reestablishing former prominence, but the house of cards would eventually crumble and come down on her, her team of coconspirators, and sadly, everyone around them who just happened to play, work or support the organization. I’m fortunate to know Chris, and some of his people, who’s tried their very best to rectify and restore credibility, but esports fandom is fickle and there is little you can do when your holding company is and was the reason it all went awry to begin with. It saddens me that his team and he could be blamed for this outcome, as I firmly believe they are well-intended people who was dealt an impossible hand. I’ve seen esports organizations come and go, I have played my part in several of them, and I know how difficult it is to turn a ship around once it’s headed for the abyss. EG, the brand and legacy founded by Alex Garfield, deserved better. North American esports deserves to have the original Evil Geniuses at the forefront of competition.