This is always an important factor to note when we reach the end of a competitive year. Have our favourite CS:GO teams had enough? The immense amount of pressure placed on players can build up over the year. This being the last big major it’s safe to assume that some teams had just had enough. There was also buy csgo skin internal strife among some teams (namely Fnatic and NiP) who were dealing with internal issues while preparing as favourites for the final major. Fnatic are currently dealing with contract negotiations, while NiP are suffering on two fronts both with delayed payments and performance issues. Fnatic were knocked out in the quarter finals, while NiP made it as far as the semi-finals before taking their leave.

A similar pattern was noticed in Dota 2 during its early days as players and teams put in large amounts of time playing tournament after tournament at the highest level possible. While Dota 2 continues to grow regardless, there have been those players who have burnt out and moved on. I’m unsure whether people consider the amount of pressure on any competitive player, but unlike any other entertainment or sporting industry they just retreat to casual gaming instead of drugs and alcohol. I guess this could be an entire problem on it’s own – “I give up, I’m going to stream for a living.” This could be seen as the easy way out, but I digress. The fact of the matter is our top CS:GO players may be reaching their final stages making way for younger players to fill their shoes.