In a Twitter post, the player revealed that he was now a free agent and had severed work ties with the North American organization. He thanked EG for their support and highlighted the importance of streaming during his time away.

“Thanks to the fans who continued to support my stream and me. Streaming kept me grounded and I will continue to push my streams. However during this down period, grinding Valorant brought the competitiveness back and I’m ready to compete in general,” Stewie2K wrote.

“Being away from CS doesn’t mean I closed the doors. I’m ready to grind, always loved it, and if the time comes where I need to grind again and compete at the highest level I’m ready to do so.”

The player joined Evil Geniuses in January 2022 with former teammates like Timothy “?autimatic?” Ta and William “?RUSH?” Wierzba. The trio was part of the squad that won the ELEAGUE Major and joined Evil Geniuses, hoping to push the team back to the top of their game.

Stewie2K’s time with Evil Geniuses ended up not going as well as he expected, with the squad failing out of four consecutive tournaments. They were also unable to qualify for PGL Major Antwerp, and months down the line, it was obvious that there were some strained relationships within the group.

The issues eventually led to Stewie2K’s controversial departure from Evil Geniuses’ CS:GO active lineup. The player seemed to have issues with Evil Geniuses’ coaching staff – Paolo “?EVY?” Berbudeau and Damien “?maLeK?” Marcel. Before leaving the organization’s active lineup, Stewie2K famously went on stream to criticize their managerial methods and admit that he did not “give a shit about EG CS”.

Following his departure from the lineup, Stewie2K moved to Evil Geniuses’ content creation team, remaining there for roughly seven months before his recent announcement. The player last competed in late April last year, shortly before Evil Geniuses announced their ‘Blueprint’ project and signed two more lineups.

Stewie2k could find some difficulty signing to a top NA team due to his controversial departure from EG’s lineup and poor stints with his two past squads.

In the announcement post, the rifler did not rule out his chances of returning to CS:GO despite Valorant being his recent focus. Stewie2k tweeted last week that he had access to the much sought-after Counter-Strike 2 Limited Test. The player could join the droves of gamers to return to CS:GO with the impending launch of Counter-Strike 2.

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Although Stewie2K and RUSH made their way to EG alongside Timothy “autimatic” Ta in 2022, the team has been uninspiring through the first half of the season.

If the roster changes are effected, it will add some credibility to former assistant coach Paolo “EVY” Berbudeau’s claims against Stewie2K. EVY had accused the IGL of being unprofessional in different ways during his and Damien “maleK” Marcel’s time as coaches of the team.

Evil Geniuses are said to have shown interest in a few potential replacements for Stewie2K. Among the names on their radar are former Copenhagen Flames in-game leader Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen and K23’s Sanzhar “neaLaN” Iskhakov.

As a possible replacement for RUSH, EG are rumored to be looking to get the former OG rifler Valdemar “valde” Vangs.

EG pride themselves on owning three CS:GO teams, making them the first franchise to field multiple top-flight rosters for a single esports title. The standout team is led by Stewie2K, and other teams consist of lineups that formerly competed under the names Carpe Diem and Party Astronauts, in line with the franchise’s goal of creating a fluid 15-man roster. Players from the disbanded franchises were only acquired about a month ago.

EG’s main team has not competed since the end of April, when they failed to qualify for every S-tier tournament scheduled for the end of the first half of the season – including IEM Dallas and IEM Cologne.

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