Over the last couple of years, Evil Geniuses’ reputation has plummeted in the esports community following multiple controversies across a handful of titles. This time around, the team is in hot water after a controversy surrounding one of their former Rocket League content creators.
On Oct. 13, Rocket League content creator and caster Elyse “Herculyse” Herrera was released by Evil Geniuses after being told that the tournament series that she had been running had lost sponsors and partnerships, leading to the cancellation of the last four events.
Herculyse’s New Era Series had featured top-tier organizations and other exciting squads, and took place in North America and Europe.
But just over a week after her release and the cancellation of her series, Evil Geniuses announced that the organization would be hosting a Rocket League tournament called the Chevron Collegiate Cup, sponsored by American gas giant Chevron. It was a development that brought confusion and anger from the public, and ire from other esports personalities.
Team Dignitas, Cloud9’s senior social media manager Mateus Portilho, popular commentator Jessica “Jess” Bolden, and many others voiced their displeasure towards the announcement, stating that this was a “dirty move” by the org and that many would refuse to watch out of solidarity with Herculyse. The team hasn’t given a statement on the situation, and hasn’t taken down the post as of publishing.
This isn’t the only controversy that the Geniuses have found themselves in this year. This past March, for example, the team found themselves embroiled in a saga with former League of Legends superstar Kyle “Danny” Sakamaki. The team allegedly mistreated the young superstar while he was suffering with mental health issues, causing him to burn out completely from the game and retire from pro play.
Overall, Evil Geniuses’ standing in the esports community continues to tank, and will require plenty of rebuilding if they ever wish to gain favor from the people once more.
