Gentle Mates to Exit Counter-Strike 2 Less Than a Year After Entering the Scene

French esports organization Gentle Mates is set to leave Counter-Strike 2 after less than a year in the game, with co-founder Corentin "Gotaga" Houssein citing rising costs and a lack of sponsorship opportunities as the primary reasons behind the decision.

The news was first reported by French insider Sébastien "KRL" Perez before being confirmed by Gotaga during a livestream. While the organization originally planned to establish a long-term presence in Counter-Strike, a combination of financial realities and shifting priorities ultimately forced Gentle Mates to walk away from the title.

VCT Return Changed Everything

Gentle Mates entered Counter-Strike in August 2025 after acquiring the Spanish roster previously competing under Iberian Soul. The move came shortly after the organization was relegated from Riot Games' VALORANT Champions Tour, freeing up a significant portion of its annual esports budget.

According to Gotaga, the plan was to reinvest those resources into Counter-Strike and build a competitive roster capable of competing at the highest level. However, those plans changed just weeks later.

On September 7, the organization received an unexpected opportunity to return to the VCT after KOI lost its partnership slot. By that point, Gentle Mates had already unveiled its Counter-Strike project and streamed its first official match, but the chance to rejoin Riot's partnered ecosystem proved too important to ignore.

Accepting the VCT spot meant redirecting the budget that had originally been allocated to Counter-Strike.

Gotaga revealed that the amount involved was between €1 million and €3 million, making it impossible for the organization to continue funding both projects at the level it wanted.

Rising Costs and Limited Sponsorship

While the return to VALORANT played a significant role in the decision, Gotaga explained that it wasn't the only factor.

He pointed to the increasing cost of maintaining a competitive Counter-Strike roster, combined with the difficulty of securing sponsors specifically interested in the game's ecosystem. As a self-funded organization without outside investors, Gentle Mates found it increasingly difficult to justify such a large financial commitment when the project wasn't generating enough commercial support.

Rather than continuing to invest heavily in a single title, the organization believes reallocating those resources will allow it to strengthen its overall esports operation and continue growing across multiple games.

The decision comes despite respectable competitive results. Since joining Counter-Strike, the Spanish roster earned more than $150,000 in prize money while competing at events such as ESL Pro League, PGL Astana 2026, and BLAST tournaments. However, the team narrowly missed qualification for the last two Counter-Strike Majors, limiting its exposure and missing out on one of the biggest revenue opportunities available to organizations.

Roster Expected to Stay Together

Gentle Mates is not planning to release its players into free agency.

Instead, the organization hopes to sell the entire roster as a package, allowing the lineup to remain together under a new banner. According to KRL, Spanish organizations including Team Heretics, Movistar KOI, and GiantX have all been linked as potential destinations, although no deal has been finalized.

Keeping the roster intact would allow the players to continue competing without restarting their project from scratch while giving another organization an opportunity to acquire an established lineup.

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A Familiar Challenge for Counter-Strike Organizations

Gentle Mates' departure highlights a growing issue facing organizations outside Counter-Strike's elite.

Maintaining a top-tier roster has become increasingly expensive, while sustainable revenue remains difficult to secure without consistent Major appearances, sticker income, or long-term commercial partnerships. Organizations backed by major investors or traditional sports ownership groups have generally been better positioned to absorb those costs, but independent teams often face much tougher financial decisions.

For Gentle Mates, that calculation ultimately favored VALORANT and the stability that comes with competing in Riot's partnered ecosystem. While the organization insists the decision is based on long-term sustainability rather than competitive ambition, its exit serves as another reminder that success in Counter-Strike requires more than strong results inside the server.