Last night, Nathan “NBK-” Schmitt unexpectedly announced his retirement from CS:GO and will transition to playing VALORANT, the FPS game published by Riot Games. This decision comes after a long period of NBK sitting on the bench for OG, with his last appearance in the DBL PONEY jersey during FLASHPOINT Season 3 as a stand-in. Here, he helped DBL PONEY secure 8th place after being defeated by his fellow countrymen Vitality.
As a veteran player with a career spanning over a decade, NBK- is an indispensable name in the history of French CS. He began his professional career in 2009 in CS:S; by 2012, he and his teammates from VeryGames transitioned to the still young CS:GO. VeryGames quickly became a formidable force in professional CS and became a main competitor challenging the reign of NiP with names like f0rest and GeT_RiGhT.
Throughout his illustrious professional career lasting nearly a decade, NBK- has claimed 27 LAN titles, including 2 prestigious Major championships (DreamHack Winter 2014 with LDLC and DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca 2015 with Envy). Individually, he has been honored as MVP four times and has made it to the list of HLTV’s top 20 players three times (#5 in 2013, #17 in 2014, and #9 in 2015). After leaving Team EnVyUs in February 2017, NBK- played for several other French teams such as G2 Esports and Vitality before deciding to join the multinational roster of OG in December 2019 and played until the beginning of this year.
In his official announcement on Twitter, NBK- shared: “I have been through it all, from small LAN tournaments to the prestigious Major stage, overcoming countless challenges and finally reaching the top of the world. […] Counter-Strike has given me everything, and I have devoted a part of my youth to it. Now it’s time for a change.”
NBK- will join the ranks of names like ScreaM, Ethan, TenZ, and Hiko who have decided to test their skills in VALORANT. It is currently unclear whether NBK will continue with OG or seek a new home for himself, but his extensive competitive experience will undoubtedly be a quality addition to any young roster.