The CS:GO vs. VALORANT debate has been going on since before the latter’s launch in June 2020. VALORANT was hailed as the millionth CS:GO killer candidate after all, so the comparisons were inevitable. It’s better late than never to join the discussion, and 100 Thieves founder and CEO Nadeshot has done so by claiming that one of these games is “much harder” than the other.
Nadeshot spoke on a number of topics during a recent podcast uploaded on 100 Thieves’ official YouTube channel on June 29. A comparison between CS:GO and VALORANT was not part of the scheduled Q&A, which makes Nadeshot’s self-initiative to make such a comparison all the more interesting.
Not many watching the podcast were expecting Nadeshot’s opinion on VALORANT bundles and the Deadlock agent to spiral into a full-scale comparison between Riot’s shooter and its natural enemy CS:GO, but here we are.
100 Thieves’ main man confessed that his most recent return to playing CS:GO made him realize the game is “much harder than VALORANT.” Nadeshot called himself out for the complete U-turn from his previously held views on the two games. “I had a clip on this podcast where I said VALORANT and Counter-Strike are basically one-to-one in terms of how it’s played,” he said. “They are very, very different. Same beast, different animal.”
CS:GO fans who value skill and difficulty over anything else definitely won a battle here, but there is something for VALORANT fans to feed on too. Nadeshot might have revised his opinions on CS:GO, but he still has a lot of love for VALORANT.
In a semi-comical moment, he disclaimed he “doesn’t want to say he likes VALORANT more because it is easier,” which gives a little more ammo to CS:GO fans. Nadeshot’s closing statement made his allegiance clear, though. “Both [are] great games in their own right, but I do miss playing VALORANT,” he said.
Nadeshot expressed his desire for 100 Thieves to make a return in CS2 esports within the same podcast, however, he also outlined the complicated reasons why that’s unlikely to happen in the near future. Despite the unfortunate obstacles standing in the way of 100T’s CS2 comeback, it’s clear that Counter-Strike is on their CEO’s mind a lot lately.
