AMKAL ESPORTS close down their operations

Russian esports organization AMKAL ESPORTS announced on Sunday, December 28, that they are closing down, thus disbanding the Counter-Strike 2 roster and releasing the players into free agency.

Formed in December 2023, AMKAL entered the CS2 esports scene with the acquisition of the 1win trio, Aleksandr “TRAVIS” Timkiv, Igor “Forester” Bezotecheskiy, and Aleksey “NickelBack” Trofimo, alongside Vladislav “Krad” Kravchenko from FORZE and Kaisar “ICY” Faiznurov from AVANGAR.

Since forming the roster, AMKAL have been competing mostly in the lower-tier scene, although they featured at PGL Major Copenhagen and Skyesports Championship 2024, and won CCT Season 2 European Series #1 shortly after the Major appearance.

The 2025 season was far less fruitful for AMKAL, who failed to win a single trophy. Their most notable placement came in November, when the Russian squad placed second at Circuito Retake Season 11.

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AMKAL started their endeavour ranked No.37 in the world, and peaked at No.23 in March 2024. However, their position in the global rankings has since been steadily declining, reaching its lowest point at No.142 in November.

Despite failing to find any notable success over the last two years, even with numerous roster changes, AMKAL have fostered a couple of players who could achieve stardom.

That includes their inaugural member, ICY, who joined Virtus.pro, and Danil “molodoy” Golubenko, who found immense success since joining FURIA.

The disbandment of AMKAL’s CS2 division comes as no surprise for the roster, consisting of Vladislav “nafany” Gorshkov, Aleksandr “KaiR0N-” Anashkin, Aleksandr “TRAVIS” Timkiv, Aleksandr “KENSI” Gurkin, Abdurakhim “mo0N” Issa, and coach Pavel “PASHANOJ” Legostaev, who were benched on December 1.

The six members have now entered free agency, where they’ll explore their options for the 2026 season.

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