Gaimin Gladiators has benched its entire CS2 roster and is actively weighing whether to leave the game altogether. The catalyst: a brutal combination of poor tournament results and Valve’s restructured sticker revenue system that left the organization with crumbs.
The Canadian esports organization, which operates alongside the Gaimin.io platform for monetizing idle GPU power through utility tokens, pulled the plug on June 23. Players Gabriel “NEKIZ” Schenato, Henrique “HEN1” Teles, and Luca “Luken” Nadotti were all benched, along with assistant coach Luan “lopz” Lopes.
A disastrous showing at IEM Cologne
The team finished dead last at the IEM Cologne Major, managing to scrape together just 16 rounds across four maps in Stage 1. For context, a single map in CS2 typically features 24 to 30 rounds total. Winning 16 rounds over four maps means the team was getting demolished in nearly every engagement.
Valve’s new sticker revenue distribution model awards teams based on their tournament placement. Teams eliminated early, like Gaimin Gladiators, received just a 0.72% share of the total sticker revenue pool.
