EG CEO: "I could buy the best team, but that doesn’t meant I know how to build a good CS operation"

In a conversation with a Washington Post journalist, Evil Geniuses CEO Nicole Jameson shared her opinion on the current state of the club's CS:GO division, which was recently expanded to 15 players. According to the head, signing a top team is not a big problem for EG, but now the organization is focused on sustainable long-term development.

I could totally buy the best "Counter-Strike" team tomorrow. It’s a money function. But that doesn’t meant I know how to build a good "Counter-Strike" operation. We will figure out how to build a good Counter-Strike operation with this, but that’s not going to be a two-week exercise.

We’re looking at a different time horizon than much of esports today, which is: "We’re going to just buy the best player, just buy what I want now." That’s why we have outsize salaries for our revenue streams. … We are trying to really build a long-term operation so Evil Geniuses are still here 15 years from now, known for and continuing to be known for winning the right way, in a thoughtful way.

Jameson noted that in order to further develop their lineups in various disciplines, Evil Geniuses will fall back on approaches not previously used at a professional level.

I’ve been with EG three years now. When I came in, I asked the incumbent leaders: "Hey, how do we add to the team? How do we replace a player?" It was the same answer over and over. "Ask the coach. They probably know someone." But that’s only a piece of the puzzle.

And so we’ve been using data. We have just as many analysts and engineers as we do coaches, with a mixture of scouts that have more of a quant [quantitative analyst] background, to help us find the markers of what makes a good player. Some of those might be in-game metrics, some of those might be bioinformatics and some of them are more experimental as we figure out what are good markers of best-in-class champions across all different titles.

Earlier, one of the club's directors Danny Engels also assessed the prospects of the current Evil Geniuses' CS:GO division. He ambitiously suggested that expanding the team to 15 players would change esports.

Origin: www.washingtonpost.com