Gentle Mates are set to leave Counter-Strike and are looking to sell their roster, according to Gentle Mates co-founder Corentin ‘Gotaga’ Houssein.
The Frenchman revealed the information shortly after French leaker and former CS pro Sébastien ‘KRL’ Perez had revealed the information on social media.
KRL also claims that FaZe Clan is in negotiations with Gentle Mates to sign Spanish AWPer, Antonio ‘MartinezSa’ Martinez, to the roster.
Gentle Mates to leave Counter-Strike
Gentle Mates co-founder, Gotaga, revealed that Gentle Mates were set to leave Counter-Strike due to compounding economic factors, which leave the organization unable to support a Counter-Strike division at this time.
The French organization has been supporting a Spanish roster since last August, effectively fielding the roster for two major cycles.
While the core of that roster had qualified for the PGL Major Stockholm 2021 Major and PGL Copenhagen 2024 Majors under Movistar Riders/KOI, the roster failed to qualify for either the StarLadder Budapest 2025 Major or the IEM Cologne 2026 Major, missing out on the financial benefits of Major qualification.
However, it was not Major qualification that was cited by the Mates co-founder; instead, the Frenchman noted the difficulty in securing sponsorship that aligned with the organization’s values, as the primary reason for the org’s departure from the space.
Gotaga noted that Gentle Mates’ unexpected return to Valorant, after the sudden expulsion of KOI from partnership status, meant that €1-3 million of budget was no longer free to be allocated to Counter-Strike.
Combined with the higher cost of buying players and wages in the Counter-Strike space, the Gentle Mates co-founder concluded, “Counter-Strike costs way too much.” (translated)
French leaker, KRL, has claimed that organizations such as Team Heretics, GiantX, and KOI are interested in acquiring the roster. A move to KOI would see the return of the Spanish roster to its home organization, where it previously qualified for the PGL Copenhagen 2024 Major.
- Fancy yourself an esports expert? Start betting with a $20 deposit at Polymarket and receive a $50 bonus!
MartinezSa linked with move to FaZe
KRL later claimed that FaZe are in negotiations to sign Spanish AWPer, MartinezSa. The 25-year-old Spanish AWPer has previously played in South America for 9z, but has never before played for a European International roster.
The move would have huge implications for the future of the FaZe roster.
Firstly, it would mean the removal of Helvijs ‘broky’ Saukants from the active roster. The struggling ‘Latvian laser’ has been in the limelight for some time for all the wrong reasons, benched before the BLAST.tv Austin Major last year before being restored to the roster afterwards.
That restoration has proved unsuccessful in the long term, yet it still comes as a slight surprise that broky will be one of the first on the chopping block for FaZe.
Secondly, if the organization wishes to maintain its rank, it must maintain three players from its core. That means removing broky will effectively mean one less rifler leaving the roster if they wish to maintain their core.
Following the end of Ryan ‘Neityu’ Aubry’s loan with FaZe, that means there is no more wiggle room in the immediate term to change another member of the rifling core, meaning FaZe would retain Jakub ‘jcobbb’ Pietruszewski to keep their VRS rank.
The alternative would be to start with a completely new core and grind from nothing back into the Tier 1 space, a task which may take months to achieve.
Let us know who you want to see on FaZe’s new roster on Insider Gaming’s Discord
For other news, see the details of the Esports Nations Cup Counter-Strike qualifier and sign up to the Insider Gaming newsletter
Darragh is an Esports Journalist for Insider Gaming specialising in Counter-Strike. He loves to explore how esports teams work, or why they very often do not.
More from Darragh Harbinson
Comments