At the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025, the tournament broadcast introduced an updated HUD — including a new kill feed font — and it has caused massive backlash in the Counter-Strike 2 community. Viewers, commentators, and players are nearly unanimous: the new font is hard to read, awkward in appearance, and detracts from the viewing experience.
What Happened?
A Reddit post titled “Please change the kill feed font, this is so hard to read” quickly gained over 600 upvotes within a few hours. The author shared examples from the broadcast — such as “NICOODOZ + CHR1ZN 🡒 GRIM” — where names are nearly illegible due to an overly condensed and unbalanced font, especially during intense moments of gameplay.
The Problem Isn’t the Change — It’s the Execution
The main issue isn’t that the HUD was redesigned, but that the new version is objectively worse than what came before. Reddit users pointed out several flaws with the new font:
- It’s too tight and cramped, making it hard to read.
- It lacks contrast, especially between killer and victim names.
- It’s difficult to read even in high-quality streams.
- One user jokingly said it looks like a warning label on a beer can.
We just want to see who killed who — clearly, and without effort. Why break something that worked? — wrote one Reddit user.
Why Now? Why This Reaction?
Every major tournament brings in millions of views and tens of thousands of live spectators. When organizers decide to change a well-established HUD during the biggest event of the season — the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 — the community sees it as an unnecessary experiment with essential elements that didn’t need fixing.
Many Reddit users expressed frustration at having to constantly adjust to new design decisions that often make things worse, not better. As one top comment put it:
It feels like change for the sake of change. The previous HUD was just fine — clear, clean, and readable. (u/onlybreezy)
This quote reflects the general sentiment: the community doesn’t oppose innovation — but only when it improves functionality. In this case, the kill feed font has reduced readability and made the viewing experience worse.
The Demand: Bring Back the Previous HUD
Across the board, viewers are calling for the return of the HUD used before this tournament — the version that was more readable, functional, and visually balanced. Many fans recall the previous BLAST HUD style, which earned praise from casters, analysts, and spectators alike. The current version feels like a step backward — or a failed experiment that damaged one of the most crucial parts of the viewing experience.
Who’s Responsible?
It’s important to clarify: this HUD is not developed by Valve. It’s a custom broadcast design by BLAST themselves, who are known for their unique tournament visuals. That’s why criticism is aimed directly at BLAST, and why fans are urging the studio to either revert to the old HUD or revise the current one quickly.
This isn’t ironic — it’s just bad design. We deserve better, wrote one user.
What Organizers Can Do
- Revert to the previous HUD used before BLAST.tv Major 2025.
- Give casters or production teams a choice between HUD styles.
- Conduct a viewer poll to gather direct feedback.
Even before the main stage of the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 began, the tournament organizer faced backlash for strict limitations on community broadcasts, which excluded independent streamers and even iconic CS figures. Now, a second wave of frustration has hit — this time over a poorly received HUD redesign that makes matches harder to follow.
Instead of improving the experience, this is a case where style overrode substance, and core functionality — like reading the kill feed — suffered. BLAST remains a top-tier CS event organizer, but viewer trust is not unlimited. If they want to maintain it, they should do the simplest thing: bring back the HUD that worked.
