Nadeshot reveals why 100 Thieves aren’t in CS:GO

“I would always want to be a part of CS:GO, man, if I had it my way we would have a CS:GO team today,” said 100 Thieves CEO Nadeshot in a recent stream. 

The rise of 100 Thieves

Two months away from their fifth birthday as an organization, 100 Thieves are on an upward trajectory. Founded by Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag and Dan Gilbert in 2017, they entered the esports waters through their Call of Duty team, LA Thieves. Ever since then, they have expanded into Apex Legends, Fortnite, League of Legends, and Valorant, enjoying moderate success everywhere.

2022 has been especially fruitful, following up the 2021 Summer Split LCS championship with another LCS Finals appearance this summer. Their CoD team won the 2022 CDL Championship, and their Valorant squad toppled the competition in the North American LCQ to qualify for Valorant Champions in Istanbul. While being discounted from the competition as a “hoodie” org, they have managed to exceed in their apparel, socials, and content creation departments. 

100 Thieves are second on the Forbes Esports list

Despite not turning in a profit, 100 Thieves are now worth 460 million dollars, second only behind TSM in terms of esports organizations. They have more than tripled their employees during the pandemic, going from 30 in 2020 to over 100 currently. But despite all of this growth and investments, 100 Thieves have been noticeably absent from one major scene. They tried their hand at CS:GO two times, signing the former Immortals roster in 2017 and the former Renegades roster in 2019.

At IEM Beijing 2019, the team placed second in the tournament, losing to Astralis, and placed 7th in the ESL Season 10 Pro League, after which the team was disbanded. Visa issues, European events, Covid 19, and the exodus from the NA CS: GO scene were cited as the main reasons at the time. 

Nadeshot speaks on 100 Thieves CS:GO and Froste

But recently, during a live stream in which CEO Nadeshot refuted allegations made by former 100 Thieves content creator Froste, he touched upon their CS:GO aspirations as well.

“I love the game, I love the community, I love the rivalry, I love the history of the game” were Nadeshot’s words describing CS:GO. But on that note, he added that it’s really hard to manage and build a winning team from scratch since it’s an already developed scene. Beyond the expensive entry fees to enter regular competitions, a lot of other hurdles were mentioned. Creating championship-worthy rosters and coaching staff requires a lot of time and resources, while the competition is always fierce. He also went on to praise teams that have managed to make it work and urged fans to support their teams through sticker purchases at majors.

Header: Nadeshot/ Twitch