BIG EQUIPA placed on hold as women’s Counter-Strike faces another major setback

BIG EQUIPA placed on hold as women’s Counter-Strike faces another major setback

BIG have put their women’s Counter-Strike project, BIG EQUIPA, “on pause for the foreseeable future,” marking another significant blow to the women’s CS2 ecosystem. The decision comes only months after the team ended 2025 as the standout roster in women’s Counter-Strike, winning ESL Impact League Season 8 and later being named HLTV’s Women’s Team of the Year. Their in-game leader, Mayline-Joy “ASTRA” Champliaud, was also awarded HLTV Women’s Player of the Year for 2025. 

The pause affects the team’s remaining 2026 lineup: ASTRA, Hania “Hanka” Pudlis, Mia “aiM” Cooper, Emma “Emmsan” Mattsson, and Sofia “sosya” Vasileva. BIG EQUIPA had already undergone changes at the start of the year after losing Wiktoria “vicu” Janicka, who moved on to play with the former Imperial Valkyries core, and Alexandra “kyossa” Tykhonska, who retired from competitive Counter-Strike. BIG rebuilt the squad in January by signing aiM and sosya, while keeping ASTRA, Hanka, and Emmsan as the core of the roster. 

At the time of those January signings, BIG presented the move as a show of commitment to women’s CS2 despite the instability created by ESL’s decision to suspend ESL Impact. Roman Reinhardt, BIG’s Chief Gaming Officer, said the organization wanted to remain invested and provide stability, but also acknowledged that BIG could not ignore the economic reality of the scene. He added that “without teams, there is no scene” and “without tournaments, there is no future,” calling on tournament organizers to provide consistent formats, exposure, and long-term support. 

That support did not materialize quickly enough. According to HLTV, BIG EQUIPA did not compete together meaningfully in 2026, with the JB Pro League Female Season 1 being the only women’s event the team attended this year. Team manager Dominic “AlphaHirsch” said the organization had waited for tournaments to appear and had spoken with both large and smaller tournament organizers, but that the scene remained stuck in promises rather than concrete opportunities. He explained that pausing the project would allow the players to seek different sponsorship opportunities for their streams and earn more money. 

The move is part of a wider downturn following the end of ESL Impact, which had been the central circuit for women’s Counter-Strike since 2022. ESL announced on October 3, 2025, that the circuit would be suspended after Season 8, stating that although Impact had raised the profile of women’s Counter-Strike, its economic model was “not sustainable.” 

The absence of ESL Impact has already led to multiple organizational exits. NIP parted ways with its Impact roster in December 2025, citing uncertainty around long-term sustainability and consistent opportunities to compete in 2026. Imperial Valkyries, one of the most successful women’s CS teams of recent years, also disbanded their roster in January 2026 after a period that included multiple international titles. 

The timing makes BIG EQUIPA’s pause especially striking. The team had just completed a breakthrough year: after a roster revamp in August 2025, they won ELITE FE Cup 6, finished second at the Female Pro League Season 1 Finals, and closed the year by winning ESL Impact League Season 8 against MIBR fe. ASTRA’s individual rise was just as notable, as she joined BIG EQUIPA in August and became the team’s highest-rated player during key events while also leading the roster in-game. 

For women’s Counter-Strike, BIG’s decision underlines the same problem players and organizations have warned about since ESL’s announcement: without a stable calendar, even successful teams struggle to justify continued investment. ESL Impact had provided prize money, regular competition, visibility, and a development pathway. HLTV reported that the circuit distributed more than $1.5 million in prize money across eight seasons, standalone LANs, and online cups, but its removal left the scene with no comparable replacement.

BIG EQUIPA’s pause therefore is not simply the end of one roster cycle. It is another sign that the women’s CS2 scene is still waiting for a sustainable post-Impact structure. The players leave behind one of the strongest runs in the history of the division, but their exit also shows that trophies and awards alone are not enough when teams lack tournaments to play, exposure to grow, and a stable ecosystem to build around.