North American cybersports organization Evil Geniuses has issued a statement saying that it plans to return to play next year. They will do so despite recent rumors that Evil Geniuses may join the list of teams that have abandoned CS:GO lineups due to difficulties with the coronavirus pandemic. Greg Kim, co-CEO of Evil Geniuses, said Counter Strike – is a significant cybersport discipline and remains an important priority for the organization.
Evil Geniuses returned to CS: GO in late 2019 after a seven-year hiatus. Three of her players managed to finish in the top 20 individual players of the year. However, 2020 proved to be a difficult year for the team. Despite several successful performances, such as at cs_summit 6 and ESL One Cologne North America, the team suffered a real failure at the BLAST Premier Fall Series, being significantly weaker than their European rivals.
After the defeat at IEM Beijing-Haidian Evil Geniuses decided not to participate in any other major tournaments until the end of 2020. The team is now ranked 15th in the world rankings. This is the lowest result for her since June 2018. However, the cybersports organization's leadership attributes the temporary hiatus in tournaments to the coronavirus pandemic rather than competitive setbacks. When the team will return to playing in major tournaments depends on how the industry adapts to the changed conditions.
