Carlos ‘ocelote’ Rodríguez, founder and CEO of European esports giants G2, has departed the organisation following the storm around a video featuring controversial British-American influencer Andrew Tate.
He announced his departure from G2 this evening in a Twitter video titled ‘thank you’.
The move comes a few days after Spanish personality Carlos agreed to take eight weeks of unpaid leave from G2 following community backlash to a video of him partying with Andrew Tate.
Carlos had said: “Nobody will ever be able to police my friendships. I draw my line here. I party with whoever the fuck I want.”
Following this, G2 missed out on a Valorant partner league slot, with some reporting this was due to his actions around the Andrew Tate incident.
Andrew Tate was banned by several social media platforms last month for his views on women, abuse allegations and more, but has since set up an account on the Gettr platform.
Earlier today, Tate said in an unrelated post: “You need friends who you can conquer the earth with. Anything less and you’re setting yourself up for failure. Let the deadweight go.”
‘I’m grateful for these years together’ – Carlos bids an emotional farewell
“I can’t believe what I’m about to say now,” Carlos said, “but my time with G2 has come to an end. This means I will be stepping down from my CEO position.
“I know it might be a shocker for most of you, and trust me, this is a very hard ending to what’s otherwise been a very deeply meaningful and joyful experience.
“I’ve met great people along the way, my colleagues have been fantastic to me and I’m very grateful for all these years together.”
Carlos continued: “I take full responsibility over everything that went on over the last few days, and trust me when I say I just feel fucking destroyed about it.
“I created G2 eight plus years ago and bootstrapped what I earned as a player and invested everything into it, not only money, but also time. What initially was a dream of mine eventually became a group of people with similar ambitions, culture and goals, and that’s something I’ll always look back to and be happy about, because I think we’ve done a good job.”
Carlos also thanked the fans, colleagues, publishers, tournament organisers sponsors, and investors who trusted him early on.
“You guys have been fantastic to me for the last 17 years and I will never forget that.”
Carlos ‘ocelote’ Rodríguez
“I’m very emotional about this but I will not cry, this is my farewell video. I hope you guys remember me for the good things and I hope that’s my legacy. I’m very grateful for all of you. I’ll see you around, and remember, with samurai, we try not because we win, but because we always get back up.”
It’s of course not yet clear what Carlos will be doing next, but with his half a million followers and his experience, the options are open to him.
It’s also not clear whether he will remain a shareholder/board member of G2 or not in the long-term.
G2 confirms Carlos’ departure in statement: ‘We do not support any form of misogyny’
G2 posted a statement on its official Twitter page.
There was no specific ‘thanks’ given to Carlos for his work with G2, just an acceptance that has decided to step down as CEO of G2.
G2 also said: “We want to underline that we do not support any form of misogyny. We continue to prioritise fostering inclusivity and supporting a diverse gaming community.
“We are fully committed to continue the legacy of G2 and feel empowered by the passion and commitment of the G2 army. Thank you.”
Community responds to Carlos leaving G2
The community largely reacted to Carlos’ video announcing he’s stepping down as G2 CEO with sadness and shock.
Riot Games CEO Nicolo Laurent said: “We’ll remember you for the good things Carlos. We know you’ll learn from the bad things. Stay strong.”
Optic Hecz said he was “really sad to hear this” as did others, with many thanking him for what he’s done in esports.
However, the comments below the G2 statement were more in agreement with G2, with some glad that he has left G2. Others said the reaction was overblown, spoke about cancel culture getting out of control and that they were uncertain for G2’s future without Carlos.
Further reading: Andrew Tate: A dangerous role model to young men or an internet idol for a disjointed generation? – Opinion
Related posts:
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
