North American esports organisation Evil Geniuses (EG) has announced it will allow its VALORANT team to compete in the Esports World Cup (EWC), but will not do any coverage on EWC-related matches.
EG made its stance clear through a public statement posted on X, stating that the organisation will only be supporting the team from a “competitive standpoint only”.
“EG social channels will not be covering, mentioning, or giving updates on EWC-related matches or content and will re-evaluate this approach based on the competitive outcomes of Phase 2,” the statement reads.
After finishing fourth in Stage 1 of the VCT Americas 2025, the team was automatically locked for the EWC Americas Qualifier, which is currently taking place and will end on May 25th.
Evil Geniuses is set to face 100 Thieves later today in the last phase of the qualifier for one of the two spots at the Esports World Cup VALORANT tournament, which will feature a $1,250,000 (~£926,935) prize pool.
The organisation explained that the team is only given limited opportunities to play in tier-one competitions, and that competing with the best teams will increase chances of qualifying for VCT Champions later this year, thus the decision to compete.
“We encourage fans who want to follow our team’s EWC journey to individually support our players and coaches, who’ve worked hard to continue to compete at this level,” EG concluded.
It is worth noting that Evil Geniuses is also not one of the 40 esports organisations currently a part of the Esports World Cup Foundation Club Partner Program.
Esports World Cup 2025 Reaction
With the Esports World Cup fast approaching, esports stakeholders have been taking stances given the negative backlash around the Esports World Cup, seen as Saudi Arabia’s attempt at ‘sportswashing‘.
Earlier this week, GeoGuessr announced its withdrawal from the EWC following a protest from its community. North American esports organisation Team Liquid also reaffirmed its commitment to ‘promoting esports for all’ by wearing Pride jerseys in the competitions at the event later this summer.
