Gentle Mates, the French esports organization co-founded by streaming icon Corentin “Gotaga” Houssein, is pulling the plug on its Counter-Strike 2 operation. The team announced its departure from the scene on June 23, with negotiations underway to sell the entire roster rather than simply release players into free agency.

Gentle Mates only entered CS2 in August 2025, meaning the org lasted roughly ten months in one of esports’ most competitive and expensive ecosystems.

FaZe wants the AWPer, but the price tag is a problem

The most immediate subplot here involves Antonio “MartinezSa” Martinez, the roster’s AWPer who has caught the attention of FaZe Clan. In Counter-Strike, the AWPer is the player wielding the game’s most expensive and powerful sniper rifle, a role that demands exceptional precision and composure.

Negotiations between FaZe and Gentle Mates have reportedly hit a deadlock over financial valuations. The complication is structural: Gentle Mates isn’t looking to sell individual players piecemeal. They want to move the full roster as a package, which means MartinezSa’s price is tangled up in the valuation of the entire squad.

The full roster includes MartinezSa alongside alex, dav1g, sausol, and mopoz, a core that Gentle Mates originally acquired from Iberian Soul when they entered the scene. Several Spanish organizations, including Heretics, KOI, and GiantX, have been mentioned as potential landing spots for the roster or parts of it.

Why the exit happened so fast

The team currently sits between 30th and 34th in the VRS rankings. Gotaga, who shared the exit decision publicly, built Gentle Mates into a multi-game esports brand with significant cultural cachet in France, with the organization’s strength rooted in content creation and community engagement.

What this means for the players and the broader scene

For MartinezSa specifically, FaZe’s interest is a strong signal. FaZe Clan remains one of Counter-Strike’s most storied organizations, and landing on that roster would represent a significant step up in competitive opportunity. The question is whether FaZe is willing to meet Gentle Mates’ asking price or wait for the org to lower expectations as the exit timeline compresses.

The Spanish connection is worth watching too. Heretics and KOI both have established presences in the Iberian esports scene, and acquiring a roster with roots in Iberian Soul would be a natural fit culturally and linguistically. GiantX represents another option with the infrastructure to absorb a full five-player core.