The 2023 HLTV Award Show, presented by 1xBet, has awarded Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut (pictured) the coveted Player of the Year award for a record-breaking third time.
ZywOo, along with Team Vitality, who also won the Team of the Year award, have been a force to be reckoned with in 2023, having won the last-ever CS:GO Major in Paris.
French player ZywOo also took home more accolades than anyone else at the HLTV Award Show on the weekend, winning AWPer of the Year and Highlight of the Year in the Panel Awards.
Team Vitality of course includes British player Mezii, who recently won the Blast Premier World Final 2023 with Vitality to complete an impressive year for the org.
Another Brit, 3kliksphilip, also won the Creator of the Year award.
The HLTV Award Show, billed as the most prestigious awards show in Counter Strike, has seen some of the best talent in Counter Strike recognised for their contributions to the sport and the community.
This included Nigma Galaxy winning Women’s Team of the Year, Nikola “NiKo” Kovač winning Opener of the Year, and Danny “zonic” Sørensen for Coach of the Year.
Robin “ropz” Kool also achieved his highest HLTV ranking this year by placing in the top three, and also taking home the Closer of the Year Award.
On display at the award show was HLTV’s first ever photo exhibition, consisting of 75 photos spanning the history of Counter Strike, selected by HLTV journalist and photographer Lucas Aznar Miles.
The top 20 players from the past year were also gifted custom keycaps, so that players can take them away and play with a piece of CS history.
Now closing off its third edition, the HLTV Award Show says it’s ‘a curated program that showcases the pinnacle of skill, dedication, and sportsmanship in the world of Counter-Strike’.
Counter-Strike legend Olexandr “s1mple” Kostyliev also revealed the first details of his new educational project at the show. The project will launch in April 2024 and offer an independent platform for CS enthusiasts to learn from s1mple himself, offering insights into his career, practical lessons on how to master CS and more.
Zvonimir Burazin, Head of Operations at HLTV, commented: “This year’s awards were a fantastic celebration of excellence, and ZywOo is very deserving of the Player of the Year Award. His exceptional performance in 2023 has not only solidified his status as a standout player but will also make a lasting impact on the history of competitive Counter Strike.
“Congratulations to all the winners and nominees who have all contributed to the community and we look forward to welcoming them back next year, as we gear up for another year of memorable moments in Counter-Strike.”
Full list of 2023 HLTV Award Show winners
Player of the Year
- Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut
Women’s Player of the Year
- Ana “ANa” Dumbravă
Team of the Year
- Team Vitality
Women’s Team of the Year
- Nigma Galaxy
Rookie of the Year
- Guy “NertZ” Iluz
The Panel Awards were voted on by community peers including five members of HLTV’s newsroom, ten on-air talent members, and 20 representatives from the best teams of 2023. The winners of the Panel Awards are as follows:
Highlight of the Year
- Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut
Opener of the Year
- Nikola “NiKo” Kovač
Closer of the Year
- Robin “ropz” Kool
Anchor of the Year
- Emil “Magisk” Reif
AWPer of the Year
- Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut
IGL of the Year
- Dan “apEX” Madesclaire
Coach of the Year
- Danny “zonic” Sørensen
The winners of the Community Awards voted on by members of the HLTV community are as follows:
Talent of the Year:
- Chad “SPUNJ” Burchill
Event of the Year:
- BLAST.tv Paris Major
Creator of the Year:
- 3kliksphilip
Streamer of the Year:
- Ohnepixel
For more information and highlights from this year’s award show, check out the HLTV Award Show page.
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Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
