NBK Reveals The Reason Behind His Move From CS:GO to Valorant
CS:GO Major winner NBK talks about why he transitioned to Valorant.
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Two time CS:GO Major winner, Nathan "NBK-" Schmitt, who transitioned to Valorant and retired from competitive Counter-Strike on 29th June 2021, recently spoke about the reason behind this move in great detail. In an interview with Runitback, NBK spoke about a lot of things including why he transitioned to Valorant, how long before he actually joins a professional team, and many other things. Since his announcement, the French professional has been learning and grinding the game tirelessly, and livestreaming on Twitch as well. The entire CS:GO community was quite emotional the day he stepped down after competing for more than 11 years, supporting his decision and wishing him the best.
NBK Reveals The Reason Behind His Transition to Valorant
NBK had helped in raising and shaping the competitive Counter-Strike scene in France to a global level, by winning two CS:GO Majors along with a complete French lineup. So his departure from the scene was quite an emotional affair, but the 27-year-old was quite positive about what lays ahead of him.
Talking about his decision to compete professionally in Valorant during an interview with Runitback, NBK explains that he had been playing Counter-Strike at a high level for an extremely long time and "it is bound for you to want to have some changes, try something new".
That is what Valorant was, a new opportunity for NBK. But there is more to it than just that as he goes on to explain, saying that,
There’s a more internal part of finding the right motivation and right approach of being challenged in the game. And in teams finding the next thing to go after. I think the online era as well hurt that to some degree. Of course LANs are coming back but still in the background… it’s tough to stay motivated. In high level competitions, regardless of what it is, you need to have that in order to be on the next level and to really be on the winning, dominating teams. I’m sure I could have stayed [in CSGO] and be in top 20, top 15, even top 10 [teams], but it wouldn’t have been the same thing. And I wouldn’t have been true to myself either."Nathan "NBK-" Schmit - Interview with Runitback
In order to take on a new challenge "on a different level and in a different way," NBK found competing in Valorant to be his rightful call. Though it has been less than a month since NBK has started griding Valorant, the French juggernaut seems very optimistic when it comes to joining a new team, "I expect to be ready to play at a good level in like three-four weeks from now. I expect to be ready to play then."
NBK goes on to speak about a lot of other things as part of the interview like what lies ahead for him now, what does he plan on achieving in Valorant, and more.
Though it is a grieving news to long-time fans of NBK, the community wishes him the best and it would be exciting to see what lies ahead for him in the future.
