Counter-Strike 2 News

Kjaerbye leaves North, claims his CS:GO break helped him "see more clearly"

Markus 'Kjaerbye' Kjærbye hasn't been seen on Counter-Strike: Global Offensive servers for a while, but that's not stopped him from making some pretty big decisions about his career. The rifler, who took a break to recover from a series of health problems two months ago, has decided to part way with North.

"I've been really happy at North, but it has also been a bumpy road with many changes, and I feel that this break has made me see more clearly," he says on North's website. "Currently I still need some time, but I know I'm far from done with CS. This is what I know, and I look forward to my next adventure."

According to North's statement, the organisation has been in "close contact with Kjaerbye over the last couple of months, but the decision to part ways was made "after thorough discussions" between the two parties.

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CS:GO's trusted mode launches by default now, but it's problematic

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players using third-party software will no longer be able to play the game unless they launch without Trusted mode enabled. The changes, which were added in last night's patch, are an attempt to crack down on cheating in Valve's iconic shooter, but they've already been causing some problems.

Trusted mode, which was trialled and tested in June, blocks naughty software like cheats and scripts from working while CS:GO is up and running, but it's also causing some problems. According to Rock Paper Shotgun, trusted mode is unfortunately blocking things like OBS, Discord, and various Nvidia software.

Trusted mode is launched by default, according to the latest patch notes, and can be turned off if the game is launched with the -untrusted command. However, that can negatively impact your trust factor, meaning you'll be paired against less trustworthy opponents for the long run. Put it this way, if you and your friends value your CS:GO ranks, you might want to avoid that.

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Seven CS:GO teams reportedly warned by Valve to resolve conflicts of interest

Valve has reportedly told seven notable esports organisations to resolve conflicts of interest in regards to team ownership before the next major in November.

In an email obtained by HLTV, Valve reportedly lists three separate instances of ownership or co-ownership where competitive integrity could be threatened after the latest declarations of interests by CS:GO teams and players.

Brazilian team Yeah, which is co-owned by four CS:GO pro players who represent three other teams, presents the most complicated of the three conflicts of interest. Epitacio 'TACO' de Melo and Ricardo "Dead" Sinigaglia of MIBR, Wilton 'Zews' Prado of Evil Geniuses, and Marcelo 'Coldzera' David of FaZe Clan all co-own the team and HLTV reports that Yeah has a financial agreement with Immortals Gaming Club (the parent company that owns MIBR). This agreement includes Immortals being able to buy out Yeah players for a set price each year. All this together means that there are a number of ways in which a conflict of interest could arise.

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Astralis' Dev1ce admits he still "throws up" after finishing every CS:GO tournament

Astralis AWPer Nicolai 'Dev1ce' Reedtz has admitted in an interview that he still suffers from stress-related symptoms after CS:GO events, including vomiting for "a day and a half" after competing.

Dev1ce reveals to Danish sports broadcaster TV 2 Sport that the effects of his stress-induced Irritable Bowel Syndrome - which he first opened up about in 2018 after missing the final months of competing in 2017 - still plague him after finishing "every single tournament" he plays in. While the Astralis star admits it is something he has now learnt to live with, he says it can cause him to throw up for up to 36 hours after competing as his adrenaline levels fall.

Despite telling HLTV earlier this year that he was feeling positive about Astralis choosing to decline tournament invitations and make the team's schedule less packed, it seems that the pressure, excitement, and nerves of competing are still affecting Dev1ce in a negative way. Astralis has been put under the microscope in recent weeks after both Andreas 'Xyp9x' Højsleth and Lukas 'Gla1ve' Rossander took leave from the starting roster due to stress and burnout.

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Skadoodle officially switches from CS:GO to Valorant after signing for T1

It was one of the first big organisations to commit to competitive Valorant during its beta, and now T1 has completed its five-man roster with the signing of CS:GO pro Tyler 'Skadoodle' Latham.

The 26-year-old has been relatively inactive in the competitive Counter-Strike scene over the last year or so, but previously found success with Cloud9, most notably winning Season 4 of the ESL Pro League and the 2018 ELEAGUE Major in Boston. Skadoodle has now made the switch over to Riot's first-person shooter and says he is "beyond excited to compete again" with T1.

Skadoodle joins Austin 'Crashies' Roberts, Keven 'AZK' Larivière, Braxton 'Brax' Pierce, and Victor 'Food' Wong at T1 in what looks to be one of the most complete and fearsome looking Valorant rosters that has been formed to date. Skadoodle is regarded as one of the beta's top players and already has an impressive portfolio of big plays.

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