American esports organization Evil Geniuses has acquired CompLexity Gaming’s Call of Duty team for what is “definitely the largest esports contract buyout I’ve heard of,” Evil Geniuses CEO Alex Garfield said in a press release.
The trade represents one of the biggest shifts in power between CompLexity, who have already taken several first place titles this year, and Evil Geniuses, who haven’t had a Call of Duty team for years.
CompLexity has been the go-to team to beat in North America for years. The team’s mainstays, Patrick “Aches” Price and Tyler “TeePee” Polchow, have been playing together since 2010. When Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 was released at the end of 2012, the pair lost their sponsorship with Quantic, and set out to find a new team. CompLexity stepped up and gave them a home.
Since then, they’ve won multiple first place titles, along with hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money, including a $400,000 pot at the 2014 Call of Duty Championship in March.
Players have hinted excitedly about the news on social media. Evil Geniuses is one of the largest and most successful esports organizations in the world and have a history of large purchases. In 2011, they acquired Chris “Huk” Loranger from Team Liquid in one of the most talked-about transfers ever in StarCraft 2.
Tomorrow’s gonna be an awesome day.
— Patrick Price (@coL_ACHES) May 6, 2014
The team’s success under Complexity leaves Evil Geniuses with some very large shoes to fill. But the move is a clear sign the organization plans to become a household name among Call of Duty fans.
As for CompLexity, founder Jason Lake promised the group “intends on building a new #coLofDuty as soon as possible.”
Samuel Lingle contrbuted to this report.
Published: May 6, 2014 08:59 am