After what turned out to be a very successful stretch of time for Evil Geniuses, bookended by a VALORANT Champions 2023 victory, the org is facing some changes.
Evil Geniuses chief executive Nicole LaPointe Jameson has officially stepped down from her role, leaving the team after a statement on Aug. 31.
In the post, Jameson doesn’t give any specific reason as to her decision, but mentions that after her four-and-a-half-year span at the helm of EG, she can “walk away with my head held high and heart full for what is to come.”
The statement also mentions the VCT 2023 Championship, arguably the ultimate underdog story from across the entire league. They started the year as one of the lowest-ranked teams in their region, qualified to Masters Tokyo through a massive upset out of their control, and finished second before running it back to break the second-place curse by winning at Champions.
Related: Villains to champions: Evil Geniuses complete meteoric VALORANT rise with VCT Champions win
Jameson mentions this win as not only a victory, but a victory in “the EG way—through equity of merit, inclusivity of infrastructure, and going against the grain with scrappy believers.”
There were plenty of question marks for the EG VALORANT roster heading into the first year of franchising, mainly due to two big potential problems, though they eventually cleared them. The first was the lack of a big off-season signing, aside from initiator BcJ. The second was the internal decision to have two full rosters under the organization, allowing for in-house scrims and easier potential substitutions.
When the team started slow, signing Demon1 was the catalyst to join the squads together. EG eventually rose in meteoric fashion to become the best team in Americas. The same players who fans and analysts alike questioned in the preseason ended up as crucial elements, especially with a new star duelist to play alongside.
Now, EG did more than just compete in VALORANT and also competed in other esports like League of Legends and CS:GO. During her tenure, Jameson was at the top through a troublesome saga in League with their star player and content creator Danny.
There were successes, including the emergence of LCS Summer 2023 MVP, star mid player Jojopyun, but that didn’t stop former employees from claiming Jameson did “irreparable damage to an entire generation of this beautiful sport.”
Related: Next-gen NA League star named 2023 LCS Summer MVP in second season
Following Jameson’s dearture, Chris DeAppolonio has stepped in to take over her role. She said he is “the leader I trust most to bring EG to continued new heights.”
