FOKUS enters Counter-Strike 2 esports

German esports organisation FOKUS has announced its expansion into Counter-Strike 2 esports by signing an international roster.

Former GamerLegion player Erik ‘ztr‘ Gustafsson will captain the roster, which makes its LAN debut at Urban Riga Open 3, taking place from March 23rd to 24th.

Unveiled on social media, the signing of an international line-up moves away from FOKUS’ reported original plan of signing players from the same nation.

According to HLTV, the organisation had originally signed the former ESC Gaming line-up in November 2025, which then attended several Tier 2 tournaments under the Friendly Campers banner.

Max ‘Eggo‘ Eickhoff, Senior Team and Project Manager at FOKUS, revealed that the existing team composition wasn’t working, resulting in the coaches starting the roster-building process from scratch. “We have been working for many years to finally see FOKUS in Counter-Strike, and it is important to us to do it in a way that we can identify with,” said Eggo.

Alongside ztr, Sebastian ‘volt‘ Malos, Georgi ‘Jorko‘ Mitev, Mateo ‘Matheos‘ Prišlin and Matias ‘Banjo‘ Kivistö round out the team. Volt is no stranger to achieving success in Tier 1 tournaments. The rifler burst onto the scene at the BLAST.tv Paris Major as part of the Into the Breach that scored a top-eight finish.

17-year-old Jorko is tipped to be one of Counter-Strike’s promising upcoming talents. The Bulgarian AWPer recently finished in the top six at DraculaN Season 4, scoring a 2-1 victory over Inner Circle in his team’s opening upper bracket match.

Matheos has previously competed alongside Jorko for Copenhagen Wolves, while Banjo joins FOKUS after a two-year stint representing Fire Flux Esports in Tier 2 and Tier 3 competitions.

Founded in 2018, FOKUS has become one of Germany’s prominent esports organisations. In recent years, it has competed across several esports titles, including EA Sports FC, Fortnite, and VALORANT.

Its VALORANT roster is currently competing in the first stage of Challengers 2026 DACH: Evolution. The team has made its way to the lower bracket final, earning a place in the top four, resulting in qualification for Stage 2.

The third edition of Urban Riga Open sees eight teams competing in a single-elimination bracket for a chance to become champion. Classified as a Tier 2 event, teams can earn Valve Regional Standings (VRS) points to climb the ladder that will help with qualification to significant CS2 event.

Urban Riga 2 saw the likes of AaB Esport and SemperFi Esports battling it out for a share of a $6,500 (~£4,771) prize pool. MOUZ NXT, the academy roster of MOUZ, won the event and has since climbed to 46th in Europe’s February VRS.