In 2020, Mathieu Herbaut, aka “Zywoo”, became the youngest player in the history of “Counter Strike: Global Offensive” to be at the top of the rankings on the specialized site HLTV. He is then the youngest “Best player in the world” in the history of this video game.
Since then, the Frenchman has continued to transform promises into achievements and has won this title twice, in 2021 and – very recently – in 2024. For all these reasons, the French team Vitality – ranked second best team of the world behind the Russians of “Team Spirit”, by HLTV – has decided to extend its miracle until 2026.
Last May, Zywoo won the BLAST Paris Major – the “Major” is the most prestigious tournament category in Counter Strike – in front of 12,000 spectators at the Accor Arena in Bercy. A first major collective victory in his career, which explains his recent title of best player in the world.
“The world of video games is a world that moves a lot. It’s not the same Vitality as in 2018 but the team has always kept the same ethics (…) so for the moment, I don’t see myself going anywhere else,” explained Mathieu Herbaut to AFP.
“We would like a marriage for life,” said Vitality team boss Fabien Devide, aka “Neo”. He’s a player who has such an aura and such exemplarity that we would like to keep him with us as long as possible.”
According to “Néo”, with this new contract, Mathieu Herbaut becomes “the highest paid Counter-Strike player in the world”.
