WCSAfter having him on our roster for nearly three years, we have decided to release IdrA from the Evil Geniuses StarCraft 2 team.
To state the obvious, this was a very difficult decision for us. Over the past several years, we as an organization have grown close to Greg, and we have developed a deep appreciation and respect for him as a person. We consider him a member of our family, and parting ways with him leaves us all with a very heavy feeling in our stomachs.
We have built our company as a players-first organization. This is reflected in a number of already well-known benefits that our players receive, such as the attentiveness of our management, the quality of our on-site facilities, and excellent financial support. And while these are all vital parts of taking a players-first approach, we believe that one of the most important ways to support professional gamers is to stay out of their way.
As most of you are already aware, we let our players be themselves. We believe that our industry's diverse assortment of vibrant personalities plays a huge part in helping make eSports so much fun - for ourselves, and for the viewers. No great novel is without great characters, and we like to let our players find their own roles within the eSports storyline by showcasing the personalities they were born with. We have strict guidelines that regulate certain kinds of more extreme speech, and we take disciplinary action when those guidelines are violated, but for the most part, we stay out of the way.
This is why it was never really an issue for us that Greg can be rude to his opponents in games, or that he usually speaks his mind very bluntly and directly. But, to us, there's a very big difference between a player being disrespectful to an opponent in a ladder match, and a player being disrespectful to the entire community of people who, via their own enthusiasm and passion for the entertainment product he creates, actually make his profession possible.
The eSports industry, and companies like Evil Geniuses, would not be possible without the passion and support of our community. We, as a company, cannot and will not be supportive of anyone who does not show due respect and appreciation for the community that makes everything we do possible.
Thank you for your time, and (hopefully) your continued support of our team.
Sincerely,
Alexander Garfield
CEO, Evil Geniuses
@ottersaresocool on Twitter
