Evil Geniuses face potential conflict of interest as Wolves set to enter Valorant

Wolves Esports has announced its entrance into Chinese Valorant with a post on Weibo. This could cause a potential conflict of interest with Evil Geniuses, as the organization is partly owned by the Wolves’ parent company, Fosun.

Chinese Valorant has become a hot commodity as Riot Games is launching a league in the region sometime soon. Wolves Esports, an esports organization run by Premier Club Wolverhampton Wanderers, has announced its intention to jump into Valorant in China and get in on the action.

The announcement on Weibo says that the esports organization is looking for pro players to join its new roster.

The club is owned by the Chinese company Fosun and fields rosters in Rainbow Six: Siege, Honor of Kings, and Call of Duty: Mobile. Wolves’ parent company, however, already has a Valorant team in Evil Geniuses.

Wolves Esports enter Valorant with Weibo post

Fosun holds a minority share in Evil Geniuses as the two companies partnered up in 2021. The deal could bring a potential conflict of interest for the two teams if they were to ever meet in international competition.

The partnership between the two companies also includes having Wolves branding on EG uniforms. Fans of Valorant may have seen the Wolves logo on Evil Geniuses’ jerseys as they made their way to lifting the Valorant Champions 2023 trophy.

While the potential for conflict of interest is apparent, the odds of the two teams ever meeting in a tournament are, for right now, low. Riot Games has yet to reveal which Chinese esports organizations will join its VCT league, and Wolves Esports might not be one of the teams selected.

If Wolves do not make the cut, then it will be relegated to the Chinese Challengers League competition. Teams playing in the Challengers League have no path to international tournaments, and thus would not pose a conflict of interest for Evil Geniuses who are a partnered team in VCT Americas.

Riot has made rules banning organizations from owning more than one team in the same league in League of Legends esports, and would presumably do the same in Valorant.