Hiko clarifies his criticism of Valorant community after clip of him praising Counter-Strike 2 goes viral

Following recent backlash, veteran esports personality Hiko has addressed the controversy surrounding his comments comparing the Valorant and Counter-Strike 2 communities. In an attempt to clarify his position, the streamer took to Reddit and posted a lengthy comment explaining his perspective. This comes after he faced backlash following a viral post on the subreddit r/ValorantCompetitive, which appeared to claim that he was moving back to Counter-Strike 2 after its full release.

Spencer Martin, better known by his IGN Hiko, is a former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player who made the switch to Valorant. He won the VCT Challengers and NA First Strike with 100 Thieves before retiring last year to focus on streaming. In one of his recent streams, he was playing CS, and a comment he made about the Valorant community ruffled quite a few feathers. The streamer said:

"I think I'll make a comeback to CS when CS 2 comes out. I do kind of miss this game. The community in general is just better. The Valorant community is a little cringe to me, and probably because I'm older..."

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"When I said the community is cringe...": Hiko explains what he meant when he compared Valorant and Counter-Strike's ranked communities

After the clip went viral, Hiko himself took to Twitter to address the situation, saying that while he does plan on streaming Counter-Strike 2 after its full release, he will not be quitting Valorant as some have inferred from his statements on stream.

He further stated that both games have problems with their communities, and he defended his stance by claiming that certain Counter-Strike servers, such as FACEIT, provide a better experience than Valorant's ranked.

Here are some social media reactions to his original comment that indicate the extent of the backlash he received, mostly from the r/ValorantCompetitive subreddit:

Comment by u/Swimming-Elk6740 from discussion Hiko back to CS in ValorantCompetitive

Comment by u/absolutechad21 from discussion Hiko back to CS in ValorantCompetitive

Comment by u/TheApolloX007 from discussion Hiko back to CS in ValorantCompetitive

Comment by u/nklassitude from discussion Hiko back to CS in ValorantCompetitive

Comment by u/Technical_Fee_2932 from discussion Hiko back to CS in ValorantCompetitive

It is clear that many in the Valorant community were not amused by Hiko's statements, as they perceived his description of them being "cringe" to be either ironic, biased, or overly simplistic.

In his response, the 100 Thieves member laid out his thoughts on the discussion in a lengthy comment under the same post, where he clarified that when he said "community", he was specifically referring to the ranked scene:

"I was referring mostly to the immortal/radiant ranked clown fiesta that all of the streamers also complain about. In no way am I criticizing my own community/fans... "

Hiko also explained that by describing it as "cringe," he did not mean to include normal players or the streamers and esports professionals who play the game. He clarified that bad teammates were the problematic characters who ruined the ranked experience:

"When I said the community in valorant is a bit cringe I wasn’t even referring to the content creators either. I’m thinking more about the insta lock duelist one tricks who just run it down not trying to win / communicate / don’t care."

Comment by u/OfficialHiko from discussion Hiko back to CS in ValorantCompetitive

Saying that he had immense respect for both Valorant and Counter-Strike, he further apologized to people who may have been offended by his statement and reiterated that as a content creator, he plans to play both games for the time being.

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Hiko is not alone in his criticism of Valorant's ranked experience, with many other esports professionals repeatedly bringing up similar points. A few months ago, Tarik made a Pro City Discord server to host verified 10-man matches to avoid griefers and throwers.