Ukrainian Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostylijev (26) is considered one of the best players in CS:GO (now: Counter-Strike 2) and is generally revered as one of the best shooter players worldwide. Now he wanted to capitalize on his reputation and launched a program for €137 to “get as good as he is” – but the project failed shortly after its launch.
Who is he?
- The Ukrainian s1mple is statistically considered the second-best player in Counter-Strike of all time. Only the French player ZywOo is statistically better, according to the specialist site HLTV, which has continually showered s1mple with awards.
- s1mple usually plays for the team “Natus Vincere” and has won around $1.7 million in prize money. He is also active on Twitch but has been struggling with the platform, as he is repeatedly banned for using the Russian word “Pidor” (roughly “faggot”). The Ukrainian says he uses the word among friends as a joking insult, that’s just how it is. But Twitch does not understand that and considers the word hateful.
- s1mple announced in October 2023 that he would end his career as a professional in Counter-Strike 2. He does not like the new version of Counter-Strike and calls it a “shitty game.” In 2024, he returned for a match in Counter-Strike 2, but it did not go well.
s1mple thinks Counter-Strike 2 is terrible, sells lessons for it
This was his new project: On June 3rd, s1mple launched the “Play Like S1mple” project together with the ESL FACEIT group.
The idea was to offer a sort of online course for Counter-Strike 2, with lessons from s1mple and guests. Access to the project costs $149 – about €137.
In the meantime, the offer was already reduced to $97, which is about €90.
Those who pay should receive private access to s1mple
The star player said:
In addition to the educational part of the lessons, I want to build a real connection with my people, which means you can look forward to various online and offline activities for the members.
According to the US site Dexerto, buyers were promised 70 teaching videos, along with monthly tournaments, private Discord channels, and a private communication channel to s1mple and his friends.
Project quietly ends after 6 weeks
This is the current status: According to Dexerto, the project was practically shut down about 6 weeks after the launch, even though it can still be purchased:
- Since June 6th, the social media channels have been silent, and s1mple himself has been quiet on social media since June 15th
- The videos were set to private on July 17th
- Buyers received their money back starting July 22nd
“Click on their heads”
What was the reaction to the courses? It was generally negative. Some people who purchased the course publicly stated that it simply was not worth $149/€137. The project was labeled “pure fraud” – there are better guides on YouTube.
One user on reddit says: “The project failed because the guides were poorly made and basically boiled down to ‘click on their heads and now you have full control over B.'”
Another user says: To offer detailed guides for every level of knowledge requires a “shitload” of work, as Counter-Strike is so complex. There is already established and strong competition in terms of guides and analyses.
Allegedly, the project had gone very well and had many buyers, as a news account reported.
This is what it’s about: It seems that the whole project did not receive the community response that was hoped for. It received a lot of negative criticism.
Simply giving people their money back speaks well for the organizers and is decent. However, doing so without any statement seems strange.
We have seen a similar project before, back then by Ninja. Apparently, this is the attempt of popular shooter players to somehow make money off their name. However, the actual benefit of these videos and courses is questionable. Just because someone is an outstanding shooter player does not mean they can convey their knowledge particularly well. Stars often seem to lack the patience for that: The biggest streamer on Twitch offers a “Masterclass” for €200 – but testers ridicule it
