Counter-Strike players from the ESEA Advanced league have announced their departure from North American organization ImPerium after unsettling revelations surfaced on social media on April 25 regarding the org’s current owner and a member of the team.
Org owner Shadow, who is 25 years old, admitted to dating a 17-year-old staff member who coaches the VALORANT Game Changer’s roster, according to images released on April 25 by EskiValorant.
Following these allegations, the entire ImPerium Advanced CS:GO squad dropped ties with the org and is now competing under the “Looking for Org” banner. Team member Nicholas “Truepain” Effland confirmed the squad’s withdrawal from ImPerium the same day. In the same tweet, the now ex-ImPerium player called Shadow “creepy asf.”
The news came to light after EskiValorant shared Discord messages from Shadow via an April 24 Twitter post. The messages, all from Shadow, disclosed their relationship and their attitudes to the reactions surrounding the news.
In the image, Shadow writes: “The age gap might make u [sic] guys uncomfortable but were two ppl [sic] who are into each other.” The org owner added he is 25 and the woman in question is 17 before paraphrasing details on Canada’s consent laws.
Canadian law states a 16 or 17-year-old minor cannot consent to sexual activity if “their sexual partner is in [a] position of trust or authority towards them, for example, their teacher or coach.”
Following EskiValorant’s post, members of the esports community came forward with claims of “crossing boundaries” messages from Shadow. One of ImPerium’s VALORANT players showed direct messages from Shadow they described as “manipulative” as well as more messages where the owner addressed what he said were “rumors.”
Discord and text message screenshots between Ver1ariss and the ImPerium owner were shared one day earlier, on April 24. The images show Shadow saying: “I know you love drama and feeding into shit but can you not?”
The org owner adds, “I literally did so much for you and the team, and then you want to act like you care so much and not even message me to ask if I’m okay?”
Shadow’s Twitter account has since been deactivated.
ImPerium did share a statement on Twitter on April 25, where representatives wrote: “ImPerium Vancuverii is currently investigating reports of allegations of unethical behavior. We understand the gravity of these reports and the feelings that result from these incidents. We appreciate the community’s patience as we work to investigate.”
Dot Esports has reached out to ImPerium staff for further details. No organization representatives have replied to a request to comment before publication.
