Vitality star shox wants to “break” CS:GO’s age limit

French star Richard ‘shox’ Papillon, who is playing his 16th CS:GO Major, told Dexerto that there is no retirement in sight for him and that he still feels young on the server.

Shox is the definition of Counter-Strike veteran, with a career that began in the mid-2000s and that has spanned three iterations of the franchise: CS:Source, CS 1.6, and CS:GO.

The 29-year-old is also part of a select club of just five players who have attended all 16 CS:GO Majors. His sole title at an event of this stature came in 2014, when his LDLC team beat NIP in the grand final of DreamHack Winter 2014.

Most Counter-Strike players begin to show signs of decline when they are about to enter their 30s, but age has not yet wearied shox. He has averaged a respectable 1.02 HLTV rating in 2021 – the third-highest in Vitality – with his experience and wisdom playing a crucial role in a team that features two newcomers in Jayson ‘Kyojin’ Nguyen Van and Kévin ‘misutaaa’ Rabier.

Still passionate about the game

Earlier in 2021, shox witnessed the departure of 32-year-old teammate Cédric ‘RpK’ Guipouy, who retired from competing.

• Read more: PGL CSGO Major hits over 1 million concurrent viewers

Questioned about his future and what he still hopes to accomplish in his career, shox stressed that he has no plans to retire and that he wants to continue playing beyond esports’ unwritten age barrier.

“I’m pretty happy with what I’ve done in my career, but I prefer to look at the future rather than the past,” he told Dexerto ahead of the Major.

“When I enter the server I feel like I’m 20. I don’t really care about my age. I definitely feel that I have all the abilities to still perform at the highest level, which is the most important thing.

“My personal goal is to break the age limit because we’re living in a world where people think that when you’re 30 the end will soon come.”

Shox added that he will hang up his mouse and keyboard when he thinks he doesn’t have the level to compete anymore, but he insisted “that is not what I’m feeling right now”.

“I’m still passionate about CS, I still want to compete. I want to break the age limit and prove to the world that you can be 30, 33 or 35 and still compete on a tier-one level.”

Shox, who is now the oldest player left at PGL Major, will take to the server on November 5 as Vitality will face the red-hot NAVI for a spot in the PGL Major Stockholm semi-finals.

DJ Esports odds: Vitality are priced at 4.053 to beat NAVI

Odds correct at the time of writing.