The grand final of IEM Katowice 2024 is taking place in the legendary Spodek arena on Sunday, Feb. 11. While everyone focuses on the finalists in the form of FaZe Clan and Team Spirit, s1mple took over the broadcast for a while and teased his Counter-Strike 2 return.
The Ukrainian spoke a bit to James Banks on the official broadcast of the tournament. During the short talk, the GOAT outlined he’s hoping to return to competition after the PGL Copenhagen CS2 Major, which takes place from March 17 to 31.
“I hope after the Major,” s1mple replied when asked about his potential return. “I hope nothing is going to happen with their [NAVI] roster because they were practicing really hard after I took this break. Let’s see what is going to happen after the Major.”
S1mple took a break from competition last October, with his latest tournament being ESL Pro League Season 18, where he and NAVI took second place after losing to MOUZ in the final. Afterward, the legendary player decided to step back to take care of personal errands. The sniper mantle in NAVI fell on w0nderful, who joined the organization on Oct. 31.
Since then, s1mple has been relatively quiet. But, with the legend announcing his return, he’s surely set to return to the front pages rather sooner than later. The player is still a part of NAVI, but their—and his—future will likely depend on the Major results. The Counter-Strike scene is known for having many roster changes after these showpiece events, so seeing a blockbuster move and s1mple on a new team isn’t out of the question in April.
