World-renowned esports organization Evil Geniuses announced their departure from the Rainbow Six Siege competitive landscape on April 15 moments after it was revealed they wouldn’t participate in the R6 Pro League.
As one of the most exciting teams in R6, the news came as a shock to fans and rival competitors alike. The North American org said they were exiting the esport due to their “grand plans for world domination now [moving them] in a different direction.”
“Today we say farewell to Rainbow Six Siege as we exit the game,” EG announced. They added: “We are extremely grateful to all of our players for their hard work and are proud of the success they brought to Evil Geniuses and their true embodiment of the #LIVEEVIL lifestyle.”
Today we say farewell to #RainbowSixSiege as we exit the game.
Our time together was nothing short of villainous, and we thank each and every one of our fans for cheering us on. pic.twitter.com/GsyWfrD2Hb
— Evil Geniuses (@EvilGeniuses) April 15, 2020
According to notable insider known as ‘R6Leakers,’ EG’s decision came after a standstill with Pro League organizers, who asked the team to relocate from their home base in Seattle to Las Vegas for the upcoming season.
With EG unwilling to bend and Ubisoft continuing with their plans for the 2020 NAPL season, the org chose to step back from the scene.
Without a team in the R6 Pro League, Evil Geniuses are working to move their lineup consisting of Nathan ‘nvK’ Valenti, Austin ‘Yung’ Trexler, Ammar ‘Necrox’ Albanna, Morquis ‘Modigga’ Hribar and Julio ‘Spades’ Cesar.
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After everything was made official, team captain nvK spoke out against Ubisoft for the direction they’re taking R6 esports as a whole.
“This is in no way anyone’s fault but Ubi’s,” nvK said. “Big organizations are the reason this game has so much success and why the esports scene has grown so much. They’re chasing the big organizations away and this is the most vague statement to try and clean up the mess they made.”
More teams are becoming increasingly uninterested in fielding a Rainbow Six team in light of the recent changes, according to nvK.
On that note the team plans on sticking together as of now. So we are looking for an org. We are currently not in PL from my understanding. I don’t know if that changes if we manage to get an org or not. Nothing has really been communicated to us well.
— Austin (@AustinTrexler00) April 15, 2020
This development comes a day after Luminosity Gaming player Kian ‘Hyena’ Mozayani accused Ubisoft of excluding his org from the upcoming restructured Pro League, a move that’s now been made official.
The core of the EG team has seen incredible success throughout the years. In 2018, EG had the largest target on their backs seeing as they took the top prize at Pro League Season 8 and the OGA PIT Season 1, while getting second place at the Six Major in Paris after falling to the G2 army.
Since the members of the squad plan on staying together even after EG’s decision, they’ll be a major free agent bundle for prospective orgs to immediately field a competitive Rainbow Six team.