Evil Geniuses Valorant Players In “Contract Jail”

The reigning world champions of Valorant have been told to take a paycut or find somewhere else to play. That's a problem when the organisation is turning down all bids so far.

Max “Demon1” Mazanov at VCT Masters Tokyo

Sources close to the Evil Geniuses organisation have revealed that their management have turned down a number of proposed buyouts for members of their Valorant squad. These buyouts come at a time when the players, who are being pressured internally to accept a paycut, have resigned themselves to leaving the organisation ahead of the January roster lock for the Valorant circuit.

It was first reported on September 12^th that the Evil Geniuses players were involved in a dispute with their organisation. Management had advised the players that if they wished to remain as part of Evil Geniuses they would need to take a paycut. It was later revealed that amount would be almost half of their salaries with some of that amount being offered back via an increased cut of in-game merchandise sales. Coming just weeks after their incredible run to become Valorant World Champions the players reportedly felt insulted and expressed their disappointment via social media.

Amid a negative public reaction Evil Geniuses would go on to publicly state they would be open to offers for their players as organisations look to get their teams locked in before the January deadline. However the player contracts, which run until 2024, have no specific buyout amount meaning that the players futures are largely dictated by the organisation’s valuation and desire to sell. This placed the players on the clock and gives them a couple of unpalatable options – either accept the paycut or refuse and enter free agency at a time when other teams might not be recruiting.

So far Evil Geniuses have turned down a number of inquiries for their players which according to our sources meet the market value for Valorant players. One such offer was for the team’s in-game leader Kelden "Boostio" Pupello from 100 Thieves.

“Boostio’s situation is more complicated” the source explained “as he wanted to leave before the paycut. I think he just wants to try a different working environment which is his right to do so… I would be very surprised if he stays.”

Evil Geniuses have also turned down offers for Max “Demon1” Mazanov and Ethan “Ethan” Arnold from NRG to the value of $100,000. The source indicated that Mazanov is especially upset at how he has been treated and believe that the relationship with the organisation might be irreconcilable at this point.

While Valorant esports is no stranger to some high buyouts those were mostly prior to the widespread esports market correction that is underway, commonly referred to as the “esports Winter.” It also doesn’t seem to make much sense to fight for higher amounts when all the indicators are that Peak6 are planning to exit the esports space. A World Championship winning team, currently EG’s only one, in a developer partnered league would offer some additional value to any prospective buyers.

The organisation has been in upheaval the past few months. After a series of embarrassing exposés both Chief People Officer Jessica Hammond and CEO Nicole Lapointe Jameson left last month. Then their Director of Athletics, Andrew Barton, resigned to join LCS rivals Flyquest. They are currently embroiled in a legal battle with one of their former Dota players that has just been approved to progress to a jury trial and it is looking increasingly likely they will sell their LCS slot following comments made in Lapointe Jameson’s exit interview with Digiday. Evil Geniuses are looking increasingly likely to be the next major esports organisation to be on the market for a fraction of its value if these trends continue.