With the player break upon us and the weather hotter than an email from Russia to Washington, there has been a marked uptick in the number of top CSGO players posting pictures of their holidays, as is to be expected. While esports grows, so too will the personal brands of the people who carry it on their backs, and with the money in CS today there is no doubt that the likes of s1mple, NiKo and the rest can definitely afford more than a wet weekend in West Wales.
Equally, while there are loads of pictures, keep in mind that most of these players are media-savvy enough to know when to post, and when not to. When videos of a few top stars out in a club surfaced online thanks to one of their ‘peers’ leaking them, it was not a happy moment for the scene, but these are all images approved and posted by the players themselves, or at least by some part of their public relations department, depending on scale. So, without further ado, let’s see what the stars of CSGO get up to when they aren’t clicking faces.
S1mple - Ayia Napa, Greece
He’s the best player in the world and it looks like he’s having a pretty cracking holiday to match. After winning a number of massive events and proving he’s more than just a carry, s1mple also deserves his time off, and is probably grateful he didn’t have to help Zeus in and out of the pool, having carried him everywhere else for the last six months.
NiKo - Budva, Montenegro
It’s been a weird time for NiKo, and you could tell that the stress of playing with subs, carrying and then losing, and everything else that has been going on was starting to get to him recently. Fortunately, he seems to be in a happier place, albeit it still taking risks, and we can only hope he returns from his time away a rejuvenated god, ready to stomp the Major in London.
Coldzera - Curitiba, Brazil
Sometimes you just need to forget about CSGO, and how better to do that than catching up with another CSGO player that you recently played CSGO against? Seriously though, the picture posted by the MiBR star alongside his former team-mate TACO is going to create some sparks, and rightly so with rumours that the former world’s best might be looking to move to a North American org. Watch this space…
Shoxie - on a beach somewhere
Famously a party boy, shox has evolved into the sort of guy every girl would love to introduce to her parents, except that her mum would probably fall in love with him at first sight. Time waits for no man though, and these days the god of the gun can be found on a beach somewhere, teaching a toddler how to build a sandcastle, which is all kinds of lovely.
Valde The Waters Khao Lak, Thailand
A couple of weeks in Thailand is normally a good thing, and the star of North has clearly been enjoying his time off before arriving home to work with his new team mate. It’s nice to know Valde is relaxing and resting, having spent a lot of the last six months with four Danish guys on his back.
And finally, KennyS… - Frankfurt, Germany
A €29k-a-month paycheck, universal love and one of those handsome French faces that captivates the ladies are already all on kennyS’s list of attributes, so it’s nice to see he is still a part of the real world. While we can’t say for sure where he was headed, it seems the French marksman is experiencing a little bit of normal holiday life, with an entire day spent in scenic Frankfurt airport. Travel never changes.
