STYKO to donate 10% of sticker proceeds to cynic's family

In a statement today, Apeks' Martin "STYKO" Styk has announced he will be donating 10% of his sticker proceeds to the family of David "cynic" Polster who tragically passed away earlier this year.

In a tweet, STYKO explained that the pursuit of esports can be incredibly daunting and the mental health of athletes involved in the sport can be dramatically affected. "Chasing trophies and wins in life is respectable, but it is never an easy path. Managing a well-being and mental health of young players is put aside in vision of pushing themselves to pursue their career, " he said. "Sometimes, that backfires. And once it does, it is too late."

He went on to say that we need to avoid these tragedies and that he would donate 10% of his personal sticker revenue to the cynic's family to help them cope with the "unimaginable loss". He would also donate 10% to the Twisten Foundation in honor of Karel "Twisten" Ašenbrener, a former Vitality VALORANT player from Czechia. The player had died by suicide last year.

For players, sticker money can be incredibly lucrative. For the BLAST.tv Paris Major, players reportedly took home approximately $250,000 from stickers alone. Should this edition of the Major reach a similar revenue, STYKO will be donating nearly $25,000 each to the Polster family and to the Twisten Foundation.

Stickers were made available for purchase last night and you can purchase the Challengers Stickers capsule which will directly impact STYKO and the resulting donations.