The night of December 12 became triumphant for the entire Counter-Strike 2 ecosystem — at The Game Awards 2025 ceremony at Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, Valve's shooter and French team Team Vitality grabbed two prestigious awards in esports categories. CS2 received the title of best esports game of the year, while Vitality was recognized as the best esports team of 2025.
Historic Victory for CS2
For Counter-Strike 2, this award became the first in The Game Awards history, despite the game being nominated twice for this title since its September 2023 release. This year, Valve's shooter confidently surpassed its main competitors:
CS2's victory looks especially symbolic against the backdrop of a difficult transition from CS:GO to the new game version. Despite criticism of the anti-cheat system, technical issues, and periodic update delays, Counter-Strike once again proved it remains the most stable and recognizable esports discipline. The simple formula — clear gameplay, high skill ceiling, and a scene that holds millions of viewers' attention for over ten consecutive years — continues to work flawlessly.
Interesting fact: BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 reached a peak viewership of 1.8 million viewers in June this year, becoming the most popular tournament in Counter-Strike history and surpassing legendary PGL Major Stockholm 2021 and IEM Rio Major 2022. The current StarLadder Budapest Major also shows a solid 1.4 million peak viewers, and this number will grow by the finals.
French Dominance by Vitality
The award for best esports team became a logical continuation of Team Vitality's incredible season. The French organization, competing with a roster of apEX, ZywOo, flameZ, mezii, and ropz, demonstrated unprecedented dominance in CS2 throughout all of 2025.
Team Vitality's Main Achievements in 2025:
IEM Katowice 2025 — the organization's first victory at this tournament after years of the "Katowice curse."
BLAST Open Spring 2025 — continuing the winning streak at BLAST tournaments.
ESL Pro League Season 21 — fourth victory at ESL tournaments in 10 consecutive events.
IEM Melbourne 2025 — securing the fifth ESL Grand Slam in history.
BLAST Rivals 2025 Season 1 — extending the winning streak to 30 consecutive matches on LAN.
IEM Dallas 2025 — dominant victory with a 3-0 score in the finals against MOUZ.
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 — the organization's second Major title after winning Paris 2023.
In total, the team won seven top-tier tournaments during the season, and their LAN tournament winning streak reached a record 30 consecutive matches, drawing comparisons to Astralis's golden era.
The key figure in Vitality's success was Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut — the French AWPer who has already been recognized three times as player of the year by HLTV (2019, 2020, 2023) and received his second Major MVP award at Austin Major. At IEM Katowice 2025, ZywOo tied the legendary s1mple in MVP award count — both now have 21 such trophies.
Strong Competition in the Category
Vitality's path to victory wasn't easy. The nominee list featured true esports titans from different disciplines: VALORANT Champions 2025 winners — NRG Esports, Mid-Season Cup victors in Mobile Legends — Team Liquid PH, The International 2025 champions in Dota 2 — Team Falcons, and Korean team Gen.G Esports in League of Legends, which dominated both domestically and internationally.
Notably, Gen.G mid-laner Jeong "Chovy" Ji-hoon received the award for best esports athlete of the year, surpassing ZywOo himself, making the ceremony's overall result even more balanced across various esports disciplines.
Battle for Budapest Major Continues
The Game Awards triumph isn't a reason for Team Vitality to relax. Right now, the French team is fighting for another trophy at StarLadder Budapest Major 2025, where they've already reached the upper bracket semifinals. Upcoming matches against Team Spirit and other top teams could add another line to the already impressive French résumé.
For the entire Counter-Strike ecosystem, victories at The Game Awards 2025 are an important signal to the market and community. Despite all challenges related to transitioning to the new engine, competition from Valorant, and constant pressure on Valve regarding product quality, CS2 has officially cemented its status as the benchmark game for all of esports. And Team Vitality proved that French Counter-Strike is once again at the peak of the global scene.
