During a tumultuous VALORANT offseason following its unexpected world championship run, Evil Geniuses did attempt to exit its partnership in VCT Americas but Riot Games reportedly stopped a transfer from happening.
According to a report from Alejandro “Anonimotum” Gomis, Riot shot down an agreement between EG and LCS member FlyQuest that would have seen the reigning VALORANT world champion hand over its partnership slot. Riot’s reported decision to not allow the transfer effectively handed FlyQuest a second failed attempt to enter VCT Americas as it lost out on acquiring The Guard’s roster to G2 Esports.
According to Gomis, EG looked to end its participation in esports entirely after being bought out of the LCS for a figure of around $6 million. FlyQuest reportedly negotiated with EG “over several months” to pick up both the spot and the entire championship roster, and had begun working to secure both “facilities and offices” to house the players. Both sides were “hopeful” that Riot would permit the deal, given that the developer had previously reversed course when The Guard exited esports and Riot allowed those players to sign with a new organization.
Gomis also reported on some details surrounding the EG players’ contract situation from this past offseason. The players reportedly would have had to agree to take just one-third of their previous annual salary (not including prize pool earnings), and players who declined this cut would “risk a full contractual termination, with only one month of severance pay.”
In addition to declining a buyout offered by 100T for Boostio, EG also reportedly declined a $100,000 buyout for both Demon1 and Ethan from NRG.
Dot Esports reached out to Riot Games for a comment on the report but did not get a response at time of publication.
