Photo via Riot Games
Fnatic is keeping its VALORANT franchise faces around for a long time, signing Jake “Boaster” Howlett and Nikita “Derke” Sirmitev to contract extensions until 2025 and 2026, respectively. These deals will keep Boaster (27) around for the next two seasons at least, and Derke (19) around for at least the next three.
The contract extensions were announced by Fnatic the day before the team’s opening match at VCT Champions 2022, scheduled for 10am CT against 100 Thieves. This is Fnatic’s second world championship event in VALORANT and their fifth total international VCT event.
Before we kick off our #VALORANTChampions run, @CojoPM & @minijake have some exciting news…
We've extended our contracts with both @OfficialBoaster and @derkeps to 2025 and 2026 respectively! pic.twitter.com/xDuDtfSNcE— FNATIC (@FNATIC) September 1, 2022
“I feel like it’s time to lift a trophy now,” Boaster said during Fnatic’s announcement. “I’d like to be doing some heavy lifting.”
Boaster, the team’s charismatic and captivating in-game leader, was previously a content creator and professional CS:GO player for Excel, and led the SUMN FC roster to success in the formative months of competitive VALORANT. His success drew attraction from Fnatic, who signed him in February 2021, before adding Derke a few months later.
Derke is one of the best players in the world, and arguably has a case to be considered the best. His mechanical skill and playmaking abilities on duelist agents and Chamber have been a foundational aspect of Fnatic’s success, and at only 19 the best is still ahead for the Finnish superstar.
Together, the duo of Boaster and Derke has led Fnatic to strong finishes at a handful of international events, including second at Masters Reykjavík 2021, fourth at Masters Copenhagen, and a playoff appearance at Champions 2021. Without Derke at Reykjavík 2022 due to COVID, Fnatic were unable to even reach playoffs.
While the list of partnered teams for the EMEA global league in 2023 hasn’t been revealed yet, it would not come as a surprise to see Fnatic included, and the organization has now officially made it clear that Boaster and Derke are the main duo going forward.