Stewie2K Set Sights On Competitive Esports Return

The US rifler says he did not close the doors on his career yet and announces free agency

Eight months after hanging up his Evil Geniuses shirt, Jacky “Stewie2K” Yip announced that he is available as a free agent. The Smoke Criminal had indicated earlier that he was done with his CSGO career after his eventful departure from Evil Geniuses and turned his attention to streaming Valorant. The 23-year-old is now ready to get back to the arena as soon as he finds a new team. 

It’s been a long 7 years being contracted & now I’m officially a free agent. I’d like to thank EG for the time and support while I was there.

It’s been a rough time period away from competing but I was also able to regather myself and streaming have been a crucial part of it.

— Jake (@Stewie) March 26, 2023

Stewie2k made his name as a CSGO player, but he is yet to confirm that he will be returning as a CSGO player. He has been playing a lot of Valorant lately, so there’s a slight chance that he might be interested in dipping his toes into competitive Valorant.

“During this down period, grinding Valorant brought the competitiveness back and I'm ready to compete in general,” he said, refusing to rule out a return to professional CS. “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.”

Why Did Stewie2k Leave Evil Geniuses? 

Following months of speculation, Stewie2k joined Evil Geniuses from Cloud9 in January 2022. Stewie2k reunited with his former Cloud9 teammates William “⁠RUSH⁠” Wierzba and Timothy “⁠autimatic⁠” Ta. Autimatic came out of CSGO retirement for the reunion, while RUSH was available as a free agent after his Complexity stint. 

The trio had won the ELEAGUE Major Boston 2018 together, so Evil Geniuses decided to bring the band back in hope of similar success. Stewie2k took over as the in-game leader, but things did not go according to plan. 

Evil Geniuses suffered successive premature exits from four events after adding Stewie2k, RUSH, and autimatic to the roster. The series of failures included a failed qualification bid for the PGL Major Antwerp. Amid the poor results, reports of behind-the-scenes drama at the EG camp began to surface. Stewie2k fell out with the coaching staff, which eventually led to coach Damien “⁠maLeK⁠” Marcel leaving the team only four months after signing for Evil Geniuses.

Stewie2k also said his goodbyes to the club two months after maLek left. He played his last match for Evil Geniuses in April 2022 in a 2-0 defeat to GODSENT at the BLAST Premier: Spring American Showdown 2022. He did not pursue a new team afterward and became a regular Valorant streamer.

Stewie2k took to Twitter on Friday to tell his fans that he has access to the Counter-Strike 2 Limited Test. He also said ‘’It’s been a while,’’ implying that he has not been playing much Counter-Strike in private since he left Evil Geniuses.