BIG EQUIPA pauses women’s CS project indefinitely

BIG announced on X that it has paused BIG EQUIPA, its women’s Counter-Strike program, indefinitely, citing a shortage of European women’s events.

Team manager Dominic ‘AlphaHirsch’ posted that the project had ‘run out of viable competitive opportunities’ after months waiting for promised tournaments. He wrote on X: ‘We wanted to hold on and believed that tournaments were coming, like everyone had said and promised. For five months, we waited and hoped, played male tournaments, showed ourselves, talked with all the big and small TOs, but everyone was just talking. To be fair to our amazing players, we have decided to pause the project so they can get different sponsors for their streams and earn more money, which they all deserve.’

The team attended one women’s event in 2026, the JB Pro League Female Season 1, and entered male tournaments to remain active while awaiting new regional events.

The pause affects Mayline-Joy ‘ASTRA’ Champliaud, Hania ‘Hanka’ Pudlis, Mia ‘aiM’ Cooper, Emma ‘Emmsan’ Mattsson and Sofia ‘sosya’ Vasileva. The organization wrote that the players are free to pursue other sponsors and streaming income.

BIG EQUIPA won Season 8, the final edition of ESL’s women’s circuit. Those results contributed to a Team of the Year award at the HLTV Awards and a Player of the Year honor for ASTRA. The roster did not remain intact into 2026 after Wiktoria ‘vicu’ Janicka moved to Clutchain fe and Alexandra ‘kyossa’ Tykhonska retired.

In January, BIG signed aiM and sosya. Chief Gaming Officer Roman Reinhardt had written that the organization would continue supporting a women’s team ‘as long as we can stand behind it responsibly.’

Several other women’s projects exited earlier this year after the end of ESL Impact, reducing the number of regional events in Europe. BIG’s announcement states the pause will allow players to seek sponsorship and streaming income until a stable event calendar returns.