Evil Geniuses’ DEI-based branding allows it to serve as a more interesting partner for brands hoping to avoid controversy by partnering with esports orgs. EG’s current group of partners includes such lesser-known brands as Monster Energy, Bud Light and Hewlett Packard Enterprise.
After G2 Esports reportedly lost its Valorant partnership with Riot Games, its CEO partnered with right-wing influencer Andrew Tate, for example, to join Evil Geniuses and become the latest organization to earn a partnership slot in the game’s Americas League.
“He loves Riot. [Evil Geniuses CEO] Nicole [LaPointe Jameson]; The company’s operations and studio John Jung spoke about why she quit and what she wants to do in the industry. “I don’t know if we’re necessarily compared to G2, but I think all of us here at EG—I don’t know if I’d ever really feel safe with another original, because I know that kind of thing in my bones. What happened with G2 will never happen here.
EG executives said they found that their DEI-imbued name made it easier for the EG to recruit influencers and team members from marginalized groups. JoshsekiThe streamer recently signed to Org, who is a gay Asian man and has developed a reputation for roasting misogynists in the gaming community.
“When you’re negotiating or having conversations with creators of the opposite gender than cis white men, there’s an inherent understanding of what they’re good at,” says esports journalist Jacob Wolff. If you’re an influential woman or person of color or trans person in the gaming space and an opportunity comes from Evil Geniuses and many others, you’re going to have to take it a little more seriously in front of you.
EG CEO LaPointe Jameson helps make her one of the few black female executives to hold a leadership role in esports. While many send-up originals these days are trying to align themselves with DEI concepts for financial gain — even the villainous Fuzzy Clan had a partnership with McDonald’s last year that focused on diversity — LaPonte Jameson’s approach to rebranding Evil Geniuses and embracing the workplace legitimizes evil. A claim to genius.
Evil Geniuses’ commitment to diversity is reflected in both its hiring practices and operations. The company last year signed a partnership with the advocacy groups Women in Gaming and Games for Change, and Valorant’s partnership application website specifically highlights its investment in female creators. The organization has produced podcasts addressing LGBTQ perspectives and produced a report with YouGov on the sources of toxicity in the gaming community.
A spokesperson for the Valorant Champions Tour Americas told DigiDay: “We applaud the teams for their efforts at DEI and celebrate their achievements in making sports a more inclusive place. We look forward to watching and supporting their progress in 2023.
In addition to LaPointe Jameson, Evil Geniuses has hired women and individuals from other marginalized groups into several executive positions, most recently hiring Antonia Bonello from BuzzFeed as its first global creative director.
“I would say EG is one of the only esports teams in the entire industry that is led by a female and black CEO,” said longtime eSports journalist and industry observer Rod Breslau. “So of all the groups that are trying to do things, EG and then FlyQuest, whose CEO has already gone to Cloud9 – it’s something more from them than any of the organizations that have put women at the table.”
Evil Geniuses isn’t the only shipping company to center its branding on a message of diversity and equity, though it’s probably the most famous original to do so. Other examples of organizations that have promoted women to leadership positions include the aforementioned FlyQuest, where Tricia Sugita will serve as CEO until June 2022, and XSET, which employs Erin Ashley Simon as co-owner and chief culture officer.
As the more controversial or unpopular esports scene rears its head, organizations that genuinely focus on DEI will benefit from the missteps of others.
“We’ve always been this company, and now it’s getting to the point where brands want to step into that spotlight more,” says Avelina Daum, EG’s head of brand marketing and communications. And I think, for us, we naturally do it without even talking about it, so it becomes a much easier conversation from a partnership perspective.
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