[CS2] The s1mple Effect — Over 800k Viewers Tuned In for Opening Matches of IEM Dallas 2025 Powered by Stake-Other Starting leef News 21:49, 19.05.2025

[Hatsepsuta]

At IEM Dallas 2025, the highly anticipated debut of s1mple with FaZe took place. The team faced Liquid in the first round but lost 0:2, dropping to the tournament's lower bracket. For more details on the match results, you can follow this link.

The main event was not just the match itself, but the incredible attention from the community — peak viewership reached 803,966 viewers, while the average number of viewers was 597,171. The peak viewership exceeded that of the finals of major tournaments such as PGL Bucharest 2025, PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025, and ESL Pro League Season 21. Notably, community casts attracted most of the audience, surpassing the main ESL broadcast in views.

Why so much attention? It's simple — s1mple. The Counter-Strike legend returned to the scene after a long hiatus. His statements before the tournament about being "highly motivated" and wanting to prove his greatness again only fueled the interest. For Aleksandr, this is one of the last chances to make a name for himself again, and viewers worldwide couldn't miss such a comeback.

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