North American esports organization Evil Geniuses has announced that it plans to return to competition next year. They will do this despite recent rumors that Evil Geniuses may join the list of teams that have abandoned CS:GO rosters due to difficulties arising from the coronavirus pandemic. Greg Kim, one of the leaders of Evil Geniuses, noted that Counter-Strike is a significant esports discipline that remains an important priority for the organization.
Evil Geniuses returned to CS:GO at the end of 2019 after a seven-year break. Three of its players managed to place in the top 20 individual players of the year. However, 2020 turned out to be difficult for the team. Despite several successful performances, for example, at cs_summit 6 and ESL One Cologne North America, the team suffered a real failure at the BLAST Premier Fall Series, finding itself significantly weaker than its European rivals.
After the defeat at IEM Beijing-Haidian, Evil Geniuses decided to refuse to participate in other major tournaments until the end of 2020. The team is currently in 15th place in the world rankings. This is its lowest result since June 2018. However, the leadership of the esports organization explains the temporary break in tournaments not by competitive failures, but by the coronavirus pandemic. When the team returns to major tournaments depends on how the industry adapts to the changed conditions.
