CS2 superstar NiKo has turned down an offer from Saudi organization Falcons to stay with G2, he revealed on Nov. 6.
The news comes as a shocking development as Falcons had already reportedly agreed to pay “a sum measured in millions” for NiKo’s buyout clause and the move was considered a “done deal.”
NiKo has been G2’s main star in Counter-Strike esports since he joined the organization in October 2020. Together, NiKo and G2 have won important CS:GO tournaments such as the BLAST Premier World Final in December 2022, IEM Katowice in February 2023, and IEM Cologne in August 2023.
Falcons was targeting NiKo as a part of its huge roster overhaul, which is being conducted by legendary coach zonic. The Saudi organization already benched four players earlier this month and was expected to build a roster featuring Magisk, Snappi, and most notably NiKo for 2024. But now that the Bosnian superstar has opted to stay on G2, Falcons will have to target another star rifler.
G2’s general manager Petar “peca” Marković said in an interview with HLTV on Nov. 6 that he’s happy to put an end to “all the rumors, gossip, and speculations.”
“As previously mentioned, we are of the firm opinion that he plays an incredibly unique role in our team that would be hard to replace, and we’re thrilled to announce that we’ve reached an agreement for him to remain with our team,” peca said.
Falcons was also reportedly targeting G2’s young AWPer m0NESY, but peca said on Oct. 29 that G2 isn’t looking to sell the Russian star “at any price.” The Saudi organization is currently targeting ENCE’s sniper SunPayus and Cloud9’s benched star sh1ro, according to a report from 1pv.fr on Nov. 6
With NiKo committing his future to G2, the team can now focus on preparing for upcoming CS2 tournaments.
