Stewie2K: "I'm going to come back eventually this year"

In a recent stream, ELEAGUE Boston Major and IEM Dallas 2024 winner Jake "Stewie2K" Yip announced plans to return to competition in Counter-Strike 2 sometime this year, aiming to capitalize on increased interest in Counter-Strike in North America ahead of the BLAST.tv Austin Major this summer.

In the clip, Stewie2K said:

The timeframe and the hype of the NA Major is very big, it would be nice to come back during that time. All in all I'm going to come back eventually this year, I'm just not sure yet.

Stewie2K's relationship with professional Counter-Strike has been somewhat touch-and-go following his departure from Evil Geniuses in 2022, with the Major winner voicing interest in returning to CS on multiple occasions while also briefly flirting with VALORANT in 2022.

During IEM Dallas 2024, Stewie2K told Dust2.us and the community, "I know for a fact this won't be the last time you see me," while overall keeping a low-profile and streaming the game on Twitch.

Overall, Stewie2K will likely find it difficult to make inroads into the NA scene should he truly focus his energies into a return. With few salaried organizations in the space at the moment, Stewie2K would likely need to climb back up via a semi-professional organization in ESL Challenger League and other domestic events.

As such, it remains to be seen if 2025 will really be the year the "Smoke Criminal" returns, but it would certainly be an interesting prospect.