NAVI’s decorated CS:GO superstar and one of the game’s all-time great players, Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev, is staying with the organization for another three years after signing an extension, the org announced today.
The GOAT contender, who is currently 25, will now stick with NAVI through the end of 2025 at least following his latest extension. At the conclusion of this extension, the Ukrainian superstar will have been with the organization for at least nine years.
A prolific AWPer and overall tremendous player, s1mple’s presence on NAVI has been instrumental to the team’s success since he joined after departing Team Liquid in 2016. On NAVI, he has won dozens of tournaments over the years, and he’s the only CS:GO player not from the legendary Astralis core in the top six for all-time prize pool earnings, having won over $1.66 million, according to Esports Earnings.
After years of trying, he finally captured that elusive Major trophy just less than a year ago at PGL Stockholm, while also setting a historic record for winning a Major without dropping a single map. S1mple and NAVI have appeared in the grand finals of the past two Majors, and the team is yet again considered a heavy favorite at the upcoming IEM Rio Major, where they will start off in the Legends stage.
S1mple has set an illustrious amount of individual records as well. He’s the only player with four top two appearances in HLTV’s Player of the Year ranking lists, and he did so in four straight years from 2018 to 2021. He’s also one of only four players to win HLTV’s Player of the Year twice (in 2018 and 2021), along with GeT_RiGhT, coldzera, and ZywOo. He’s even won the most HLTV event MVP awards with 21 total.
With s1mple on the books, NAVI is sure to remain competitive in CS:GO (or any competitive FPS title if it so chooses) for the next few years.
Published: Oct 18, 2022 10:52 am