AuroraCS2/TwitchTwitch has finally unbanned Counter-Strike 2 pro XANTARES after just under four years following his mysterious permaban from the platform.
Turkish CS player İsmailсan ‘XANTARES’ Dörtkardeş was banned on Twitch back in June 2021 and originally had no idea how long his suspension would last.
“I got banned from Twitch guys. I don’t know why but I definitely deserve it, it’s not their fault bro,” he said following the ban.
A day later, he revealed it was for a community guidelines violation, with some suspecting alleged toxic behavior in a CS:GO match was the catalyst for the ban.
Now, almost four years to the day, XANTARES is back on Twitch.
Twitch unbans XANTARES after four long years
On June 4, XANTARES’ Twitch channel was suddenly reinstated after 3 years, 11 months and five days.
In the time since his ban, CS:GO underwent a big transformation when it was replaced by Counter-Strike 2. The streamer also went from competing for Eternal Fire to his new team, Aurora Gaming.
Aurora responded to the ban with glee, tagging XANTARES and asking when he plans to stream on Twitch.
According to XANTARES, Aurora and the org’s CEO, were responsible for getting his account back, but it wasn’t easy.
“I reached out countless times and explored every possible option,” he said, adding that it was a “tough journey.”
“Everything changed when I joined Aurora. Thanks to the unwavering support of the team, and especially the leadership of our CEO Adalet who fully embraced the situation and pursued every necessary step with determination, we were finally able to overcome what once felt impossible,” the Counter-Strike pro explained.
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“This isn’t just the restoration of a Twitch account. It is the return of a legacy, a community, and years of dedication and passion. To everyone who stood by me throughout this journey, especially the Aurora family, thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
XANTARES isn’t the first streamer to get unbanned on Twitch after many years.
Notably, Adin Ross, who was banned on Twitch for two years, was finally reinstated earlier in 2025. This came after Twitch alerted permabanned creators that they could apply to restore access to their accounts and acknowledged that the site’s ban system “disproportionately impacted longtime streamers.”
