Salaries at CYBERSHOKE Esports cost Shoke $245,000 for the first nine months of 2026
CYBERSHOKE Esports owner Erik “Shoke” Shokov revealed in a video on his personal YouTube channel how much it cost to maintain the Counter-Strike 2 roster in 2026 and discussed plans for the organization’s final tournament.
On the team’s expenses in 2026
How much did this year cost? 2026. And, as I’ve already said, unfortunately, all these expenses came out of my own pocket. <...> Well, let’s take August as an example. $24,000 in salaries alone. Over 9 months, that’s $245,000. Tournament expenses. In August we spent nothing, but in September we spent $15,000 because there were two tournaments, if I’m not mistaken. We had to buy tickets, arrange lodging, and possibly get visas for certain countries. It’s interesting how it works out for us—one month we don’t do anything, and the very next month there’s a tournament.
Miscellaneous expenses. Every month, we have expenses ranging from $2,000 to $4,000. For example, a player’s mouse broke. Well, we can’t just tell him, “Take it out of your salary.” We have to cover it. Upgrading a computer, some hardware. Look, this is a huge amount of money for my team, but for Tier 1 teams—like NAVI or Spirit—well, it’s just pocket change. I’m just telling you how it all works.
Two boot camps: $16,000 in January and $13,000 in July. We used to have boot camps in Serbia, but now they’ve moved to St. Petersburg and Moscow, so everything’s much cheaper. Well, just so you know, a similar boot camp in Serbia would cost around 30. Tournament entry fees. We play in VRS tournaments, where you have to pay a $3,000 entry fee. Plus, you spend money on flights, lodging, and so on. <...>
We spent $45,000 on transfers. I don’t even want to think about it anymore. I mean, I’ve distanced myself so much from the whole thing. I don’t even know who we signed. Honestly, I stopped dealing with that team back in June. I was just watching—I was just like you guys. Well, you probably weren’t even watching, but I had to. ...> The question is, can we recoup all this money? I don’t think so. If we had three or four sponsors, it would have broken even. But let me remind you—we have zero.
On CYBERSHOKE Esports’ last tournament in 2026
We still have one tournament left that we didn’t finish. “Markovka” [Refers to WINLINE MPKBK CIS LAN Season 9. — Ed.] with a $50,000 prize pool in Moscow on October 20. So what should we do about it? And at some point, I start thinking. I’ve already played in the academy. What if I play in CYBERSHOKE’s final tournament as part of the main roster myself, as the fifth player?
Earlier, CYBERSHOKE Esports disbanded its CS2 roster. The players who had been on loan to the team returned to their clubs, Mokuj1n and alpha were put up for transfer, and yiksrezo and FenomeN became free agents.
Photo: Erik “shoke” Shokov.
