On HLTV’s award show, the best player of CS:GO announced on Jan. 13 that he’s been working on an educational “project” for aspiring players and that it’ll be ready in April.
S1mple was the king of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. He has three Player of the Year awards from HLTV, a record 21 event MVP awards, and has (finally) won a Major in Stockholm, in addition to an Intel Grand Slam. From 2016 until 2023, he was the face of the NAVI organization and wowed the world with his flashy, explosive CS playstyle.
CS2 hasn’t been kind to many players, the game dropped in a poor state and still has performance issues and incomplete community functions. S1mple, more than others, was not happy with the state of the game. Additionally, the war in Ukraine has led to significant unrest among players from the CIS region. S1mple is Ukrainian, NAVI is a Ukrainian organization, and the war hit close to home for everyone from the area.
Ultimately, his dislike of several of CS2‘s new functions, along with a need to “fix documents” and “take care of other people” in his personal life, led him to take a break from competition in late 2023. Even so, he nabbed himself a 7th-place finish on this year’s HLTV Top 20.
At the show, S1mple baited his retirement, sending NAVI fans all over the world into a moderate panic. He quickly moved on, stating that he still hopes to return to CS one day. For now, you’ll be able to take lessons from S1mple after he completes his educational project. It’s set to debut in April, and it should come with several other community functions. But, if you’ve ever wanted tips on your AWPing or CT side of Cache, you’ll be able to learn from the best of the best.
Eventually, everyone hopes that S1mple will return to the server, but we’ll have to continue to wait for his competitive re-introduction.
