Everything in Counter-Strike is currently centered around the Majors, more specifically around everything that leads to them. Organizations practically have dedicated departments that calculate VRS points to make sure they have enough to qualify for a Major.
s1mple is currently playing for BC.Game, a team that had almost no chance of qualifying for the previous Major, Starladder Budapest 2025, but now has a decent opportunity to reach that goal at IEM Cologne 2026. According to analyst Mischief, who tracks all VRS points, BC.Game has a 17.6% chance of qualifying for the IEM Cologne Major 2026.
Actually, this does not mean that s1mple is almost guaranteed to miss the Major. For example, Fnatic last year had only a 2.9% chance of qualifying for the tournament just a week before the invitations were announced, but due to certain events and their own wins, they still managed to qualify for the Starladder Budapest Major 2025. A similar story could happen with BC.Game, although the team should not rely solely on luck — they definitely need to place highly at smaller LAN tournaments, which they are currently struggling with.
The organization itself is also highly interested in success, since the club’s main sponsor is the crypto casino BC.Game, and getting stickers in the most popular game for qualifying for the Major would be a major image and financial boost for them. They even slightly changed the team’s logo, because under the new VALVE rules, a team whose name directly refers to a project such as a casino, case-opening site, or bookmaker cannot use its primary branding in the game.
As a reminder, Riot Games conducted quiet layoffs.