s1mple announces sudden break from pro CS2

Counter-Strike veteran Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyljev has shocked the FPS community by announcing a sudden break from Counter-Strike 2.

On Twitter, s1mple said that he needs time away from Counter-Strike to “fix documents and take care of other people in my life.” This has left fans wondering if he’s retiring from pro gaming and about his future with Natus Vincere.

Is s1mple leaving Navi?

In the surprising announcement tweet, s1mple explained that he “never thought about” leaving Navi but is interested in any offers, especially if any teams want him on rifle instead of AWP.

“While nothing is decided yet, I hope you’re still gonna cheer for boys in upcoming tournaments,” s1mple wrote.

So what’s next, time to take break as I wanted but that’s only half of story
Need to fix documents and take care of other people in my life
About switching to other org : never thought about it but would be interesting to see offers, maybe on rifle since awp a bit not impactful…

— Sasha (@s1mpleO) October 26, 2023

Here’s the Navi roster now that s1mple is taking a break:

• Aleksi “⁠Aleksib⁠” Virolainen
• Valeriy “⁠b1t⁠” Vakhovskiy
• Mihai “⁠iM⁠” Ivan
• Justinas “⁠jL⁠” Lekavicius
• Ihor “⁠w0nderful⁠” Zhdanov
• Andrey “⁠B1ad3⁠” Gorodenskiy (coach)
• Oleksandr “⁠s1mple⁠” Kostyliev (benched)

What’s next for s1mple?

For now, s1mple is only on a break. He hasn’t retired from playing professional Counter-Strike 2. But it’s unclear when he will be returning as of right now.

Right now, s1mple said he is going to be “working on my own CS2-related project.” It’s unclear what this entails since s1mple said it’s “too soon to announce.”

But be on the lookout — s1mple said he would be sharing more news in the future.