Vitality announce ZywOo contract extension until 2024

Holograms of the French prodigy were spotted across Paris as the organisation confirmed that it will hold on to its star.

Vitality have announced that Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut is tied to the organisation until the end of 2024. The 20-year-old penned his new contract at the start of this year, but the announcement of the extension was made only on Sunday, days after the French team played their final match of 2020.

In celebration of the announcement, Paris was on Sunday illuminated with holograms of ZywOo projected on several buildings and monuments, including the Panthéon, Trocadéro, Montmartre and near the Arc de Triomphe.

“Being a member of Team Vitality has always been such a natural fit for me," ZywOo said in a statement. "2020 was a crazy year and I know that having Team Vitality and my teammates support me was one of the main reasons I excelled. I am really excited to make this commitment and wear the Team Vitality shirt for another four years.”

The first player to be featured in HLTV.org's 'One for the future' article series about rising talents, ZywOo burst onto the French scene in 2017 with WySix and aAa. Due to his academic obligations, he became a professional only a year later, joining Vitality in October 2018 as the renowned French organisation entered the Counter-Strike scene.

ZywOo enjoyed tremendous success in his first full year as a professional player as he helped Vitality to established themselves as title contenders internationally. He was named the best player of the year ahead of Aleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev after winning five Most Valuable Player (MVP) medals and earning just as many Exceptionally Valuable Players (EVP) selections.

The French star has maintained a stunning level of consistency in 2020 despite Vitality struggling for consistency during the first half of the year. He will end 2020 tied with s1mple for the highest rating in the top flight (1.29), with the team currently at the top of the world rankings after picking up titles in IEM Beijing-Haidian Europe and the BLAST Premier Fall Finals.

"We are delighted that ZywOo has chosen to commit to being a member of Team Vitality," Vitality co-founder and president Fabien "Neo" Devide said. "A player like ZywOo comes along once in a generation and we couldn’t be happier to have him competing with us. Together with our performance team, we are committed to ensuring that ZywOo has the tools and infrastructure to continue reaching his full potential."