ZywOo signs new Vitality contract until 2026: "Since the beginning, it’s been Vitality forever"

The French AWPer has committed his future to the organization for two more years.

Vitality star Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut has signed a new contract that will keep him with the French organization until the end of 2026. To celebrate this renewal, Vitality have planned a special event for today in front of the Eiffel Tower, where the French AWPer will be crowned the ‘King of CS’ and sit on a Game of Thrones-inspired throne made of weapons that are in the game.

ZywOo had just nine months left on the five-year deal that he signed at the start of 2020. By the time his new contract is due to expire, he will have been with the French organization for over eight years.

“The feeling is the same it was at the beginning,” ZywOo told HLTV. “I’m looking at the team I have with me, and this team is one of the best I could have.

“I’m feeling good with Vitality, I’m feeling great with this team, so I’m not going to move. It’s a great feeling to sign a new contract. Everyone is happy.”

ZywOo joined Vitality in 2018 as the cornerstone of the French organization’s first CS:GO team. He has since established himself as one of the best players in the history of the Counter-Strike franchise with 18 MVP medals, the third-most of any player, five consecutive HLTV Top 20 appearances (three at No.1 and two at No.2) and nine Big Event titles, including one Major.

For him, Vitality symbolizes “family”. And that’s a big reason why, he claimed, the thought of moving to a different organization has never crossed his mind.

“For me, since the beginning, it’s been Vitality forever,” he said. “I’m not the kind of guy who goes thinking If I’m better on another team or in another organization. Our game is going so fast. Every week, we have a new tournament. Every week, we have mistakes to fix. I have no time to think about joining another team.”

Contract talks began in the summer and went on for about seven months. It might seem like forever, but the previous deal, Vitality Executive President Fabien "Neo" Devide pointed out, took even longer, around nine to ten months.

“When you are discussing details and discussing the best player in the world and one of the best who has ever played the game, of course his agent will have some expectations, and I guess ZywOo will also have some expectations,” Neo explained. “And I think it's totally fair and healthy. So it takes time. We wanted the same thing, we wanted to keep going together. I think both parties are really happy. I was never worried during the process.”

It is expected that, in order to tie ZywOo down to a new deal, Vitality presented him with generous terms that reflect his talent and standing as the face of the organization. Questioned if Vitality offered him a share of the business, as organizations like T1 and Team Liquid have done to reward their most prized assets, Neo responded: “What I can say is that ZywOo now has one of the best contracts, if not the best, in Counter-Strike history.”

The announcement of the new deal comes after what ZywOo described as the “most successful year” since he has been with Vitality, one that hit its peak with the dream victory at the BLAST.tv Paris Major in front of the team’s home crowd. That was one of five Big Event titles that Vitality won in 2023 as they were crowned the Team of the Year by a wide margin. ZywOo also had to find room in his cabinet for the five MVP medals he picked up along the way, as well as for the hat-trick of individual honors (Player of the Year, AWPer of the Year, and Highlight of the Year) he scooped up at the season-ending HLTV Awards.

One key aspect of ZywOo’s growth since he burst onto the scene is that it’s not limited to the game. He has come out of his shell and is regularly doing interviews with the same reporters he did his best to avoid during the early stages of his career because he wasn’t confident enough in his English. He is also starting to develop a bit of an ego (something that seemed unthinkable not too long ago).

When you have a generational talent in your ranks, you continue to build the team around him and provide him with the tools to succeed. At some point in the future, ZywOo might even be the squad's oldest and most experienced player. That is why Neo thinks that the in-game leader role will be a natural evolution for ZywOo so that he can “give back to the young generation that will come to Vitality.”

“Let apEX end his career in ten years,” he said with a smile. “But at some point, that’s also the trajectory we want him [ZywOo] to follow. He is already a technical leader by his skills, so we are trying to make him grow into this role, little by little, step by step, with the help of the coaching staff and apEX. And he’s growing every day on this. So we are really happy.

“I think the next step in the new cycle is making sure that ZywOo will become more and more a leader and that he is building and feeding a nice and useful ego, which is starting to appear, and we’re really glad about it.”

When Vitality signed ZywOo in 2018, Neo promised him that he would make him a Major winner. For nearly five years, he was obsessed with ensuring he could deliver on that promise.

With a Major title already in the bag, the focus is now on turning ZywOo into an all-time great.

“We want to end the game, and in Counter-Strike that means winning Katowice, Cologne and at least another Major," Neo said. "There is no timeframe, but at some point, when you are a CS lover and you want to have an impact on this industry and the history of the game, having two Majors plus Cologne and Katowice [is essential].

“If we want Vitality to succeed and ZywOo to be part of this Michael Jordan type of discussion, or s1mple type of discussion, the G.O.A.T. of the game, we need to lift those trophies. That’s our common goal and we are working every day on it.”