100 Thieves President raises possibility of return to CS with EWC funds

In a Reddit comment on the 100 Thieves Subreddit on May 6th, 100 Thieves President Jacob Toft-Andersen said that the organization views a return to Counter-Strike, among other titles, as an "ambition" for 100 Thieves moving forward. Toft-Anderson's comments come after 100 Thieves were selected to be one of 30 organizations to receive financial support from the Saudi state-backed Esports World Cup, which is set to start on June 28th although 100 Thieves are not currently slated to participate in this year's edition.

100 Thieves has previously hinted at a return to Counter-Strike on multiple occasions, with CEO and Founder Matthew "Nadeshot" Haag saying back in June 2023 somewhat noncommittally that "there is a world where it happens."

Since then much has changed in the Counter-Strike landscape, with the release of Counter-Strike 2 bringing a new wave of interest to the game while Valve has barred franchise leagues from operating starting in 2025, leading to multiple tournaments organizers returning to the space.

More importantly however is 100 Thieves' partnership with the Esports World Cup potentially providing up to six figures for partner organizations to enter into or return to esports titles in which they previously hosted rosters. 100 Thieves previously hosted a Brazilian roster in CS:GO in 2017 and an Australian roster from 2019 to 2021.

100 Thieves interest in Counter-Strike 2 was also hinted at by Aleksandar "kassad" Trifunović on a recent episode of Last Free Nation's Hot Take Point Made, where the former 100T coach said that behind the scenes the organization had expressed interest in returning to the game.

With all of these signs, there is a world in which 100 Thieves return to CS in the near-to-mid future, with their region of choice for their third outing being anyone's guess.