Alex "Mauisnake" Ellenburg, a CS2 analyst, expressed his displeasure after the announcement that the official competitive map pool will change. Ellenburg argued that professional teams had only recently managed to find an effective approach to Train, and that removing the map now will halt the further development of its meta at the highest level of play.

Nikola "NiKo" Kovač, a member of Team Falcons' CS2 roster, discussed his 2025 season and his placement in HLTV.org's list of the top 20 players for 2025. In an interview at the BLAST Bounty Winter 2026 event he commented on his performance over the past year and said he is ready to work to return to his former level.

Russian esports player Nikita “Daxak” Kuzmin has clarified remarks he made about Virtus.pro coach Kaniska Sam, known as BuLba. Kuzmin said he respects BuLba and values the coach’s contribution to the team, and that his earlier comments were taken out of context by some media and readers.