Evil Geniuses drops popular StarCraft 2 player for disrespecting eSports community

Evil Geniuses, one of the leading North American eSports organizations, released well-known StarCraft 2 player Greg "IdrA" Fields today for disrespecting the eSports community in a forum comment.

Fields, who had been a part of Evil Geniuses for almost three years, was a controversial fixture in the eSports scene for his negative attitude and hot temper. In response to a half-joking statement suggesting that Fields' outrageous behavior resulted from a perceived need for strong personas in eSports, he wrote (screencap via PCGamesN), "Nope you're all a bunch of fucks. It just so happens I get paid to treat you like it. It's awesome."

In a statement on the Evil Geniuses website, CEO Alexander Garfield said the decision to let Fields go was not undertaken lightly, and that it left everyone at the company with "a very heavy feeling in [their] stomachs."

"As most of you are already aware, we let our players be themselves," said Garfield. "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."

As a player-first company, said Garfield, Evil Geniuses would tolerate a certain level of behavior as long as it remained confined to match play. Garfield did not refer specifically to Fields' forum comment, but said his company would not stand for insults directed at fans outside of a game setting.

"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," Garfield explained.

He continued, "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."