CSGO map designer responds to s1mple after Cache graffiti ‘removal’

Counter-Strike level designer Salvatore ‘Volcano’ Garozzo has responded to Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev following the Natus Vincere superstar’s reaction to the removal of his famous commemorative graffiti on Cache.

There are not many CSGO fans that wouldn’t know about the graffiti splashed around certain maps, celebrating massive professional moments like Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David downing four Team Liquid players, or s1mple’s back-to-back unscoped AWP kills against Fnatic.

Following the reveal of the Cache rework from Volcano Shawn ‘FMPONE’ Snelling, which debuted ahead of ESL New York’s showmatch on September 29, fans got a look at the planned changes. One thing caught their eye – it seemed s1mple’s graffiti had been removed.

The CSGO fanbase took to social media to demand the return of the piece of history. While players wanted it back, s1mple took it as an opportunity to show his winning mentality.

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“Graffiti removed, time to get a new one,” the Ukranian star said following the news, living up to his name with the simple statement.

Luckily for the NaVi veteran, it seems like he may not have to go to great lengths to re-earn a slice of history. Volcano suggested Cache was still in a development phase, and details across the Chernobyl-based map would be added at a later date.

“We’re still putting in the finishing touches, don’t worry!” he said on Twitter, alongside an image of the famous two-headshot AWP artwork on the back of a jacket.

S1mple earned his bewinged image on the old Cache map after he dropped down from Heaven, landed a no-scope kill on Dennis ‘dennis’ Edman before doubling down on his scopeless skills with a second on Freddy ‘KRIMZ’ Johansson moments later.

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Cache was first removed from the game’s active map pool to make way for Inferno earlier this year. It has now been confirmed it will be returning to CSGO’s regular pool in October, after the finishing touches – including returning s1mple’s memorabilia – are complete.

Garazzo admitted the old Cache design was inherently more T-sided, and revealed the development duo had addressed that in the rework by trimming the Counter-Terrorist side’s long rotation times slightly to hopefully boost competitiveness.

It is also expected Cache will be returning to the professional map pool, though there’s been no official confirmation if this would be at the expense of another competitive option.