Undeniable aura: s1mple draws massive audience in epic CS2 career revival

It may not have been the CS2 return s1mple was planning on, with the superstar AWPer and his new team Falcons exiting the event in straight series without a map win. But fans of the 27-year-old Ukrainian have been loudly proclaiming the CS:GO legend was back and better than ever after the loss to Virtus.pro.

The star AWPer was a little more cordial about the result, but with glimpses of his greatness across the two series, all eyes turn to Falcons' next few events to see whether s1mple and the squad can convert his resurgence into trophies.

As many expected, records for Thunderpick's World Championship were broken within minutes of s1mple launching into the CS2 server. Nearly 200,000 tuned in to watch Falcons take on 3DMAX in the event opener according to Esports Charts.

A further 50,000 showed up later in the day to catch Falcons' eliminator against VP, and while many turned off the event after s1mple's elimination, the mark he left can't be ignored. The previous viewership record for Thunderpick — last year's group stage match between BIG and FURIA — clocked in 144,317 concurrents.

A full 100,000+ more showed up for s1mple's return, and that was just an elimination match in the group stage. It's clear that even after a season-long hiatus and his documented disdain of CS2, many cannot miss seeing the superstar back in action.

Of the result, s1mple said a lack of preparation and multiple mistakes impacted Falcons. "A rough start, but don't forget we've only been practicing for about 10 days," he said on Telegram, translated via CS2News on X/Twitter.

"The preparation process and fixing mistakes takes time," he added. It's important to know that, while this isn't s1mple's first rodeo with Falcons, this is a whole new team and he's got plenty of rust to wash away before he's fully operational on the server again.

That didn't stop us from getting a look at prime s1mple for a few rounds in CS2. After a dismal Anubis, he turned up the heat against 3DMAX on Nuke in the opening series, landing 26 kills and multiple clutches in the loss.

He remained warm against VP and former teammate Denis "electronic" Sharipov, topping the server and posting a 1.24 HLTV rating despite the 0-2 loss. S1mple was the only Falcons player to go positive in their elimination match.

Since then, viewers have switched off from the event. Thunderpick's group stage continues into late October but concurrent peaks have dropped below 100,000, even as the event heats up. It's clear to see why.

S1mple's status in Counter-Strike is legendary. The three-time player of the year racked up over a dozen tier-one titles and MVP medals before taking a break from the game in late 2023. During his time off, he stood in for Falcons in a one-off event and had a hand in developing a Counter-Strike training course.

The course was an abject failure, with many fans criticizing the superstar's teaching style and ultimately demanding refunds after the project was set to private.

At the end of the day, s1mple's best work is done in the server playing competitively. It's up to Falcons to work with the Ukrainian sniper if they hope to crack the top 10 and add to their trophy cabinet. S1mple and Falcons will suit up in Katowice this week at ESL Challenger, s1mple's first LAN in over a year.

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