Riot Games reportedly blacklisted ocelote

The recently resigned CEO of G2 Esports, Carlos “ocelote” Rodríguez Santiago, was reportedly forced by Riot Games to sell his shares in the organization to avoid potential disaster for G2, as he was allegedly blacklisted.

Esportmaniacos first reported the incident, stating that “some people were scared of losing the G2 LEC spot.” Esportsmaniacos’ information is still awaiting confirmation from other sources (including Jaxon), especially as Riot allegedly blacklisted G2’s former CEO from participating in anything related to their leagues.

If this holds, the blacklisting could have been what pushed ocelote to step down as CEO of G2 last Friday.

If true, ocelote is not the first owner Riot has treated this way

Although this information is still in the rumor stage, it is not without precedent: Riot has swung its weight heavily towards org owners and their responsibility to the scene in the past. 

In a world where Riot has blacklisted ocelote, and in which he refused to sell his G2 shares, it could have resulted in another Renegades situation. In 2016, Renegades were forced out of the LCS following then co-owner Chris Badawi’s actions within the team and banned him permanently from owning a team in their league. The ban extended to then co-owner Christopher “MonteCristo” Mykles, albeit in a limited capacity as he was banned for one year.

A more recent example would be Echo Fox, which was forced to sell its LCS franchising spot in late 2019 because the team couldn’t get rid of then-investor Amit Raizada amid racism controversy. In this case, ocelote took all responsibility and stepped down by himself. 

Perhaps ocelote did this to save the future of the organization he has built. G2’s application for VALORANT’s VCT franchising was recently declined, and people speculate that it might have something to do with the recent Andrew Tate controversy. 

Even if these rumors are false, G2 is entering shaky territory in the foreseeable future as it detaches its brand from that of ocelote, and as it finds a way forward amid controversy.

Jaxon will update this report in the future as we uncover more information, or as said information emerges elsewhere.

Update at 21:10: LEC denies forcing ocelote to sell his G2 shares

For their part, the LEC is denying the allegations regarding ocelote and their impact on his decision to leave G2. However, Head of Esports in EMEA Maximillian Peter “MAXtheX” Schmidt has disclosed that an investigation is ongoing.

This is not without precedent: indeed, the LCS investigated TSM owner Andy “Reginald” Dinh after Washington Post’s report regarding his behavior within the company. Eventually, they published a ruling on their side, pending further developments.