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NRG Esports among first teams to join Legends Stage in Katowice Counter-Strike NRG Esports among first teams to join Legends Stage in Katowice By Steven Rondina Fnatic eliminate Grayhound Gaming to survive in Katowice Counter-Strike Fnatic eliminate Grayhound Gaming to survive in Katowice By Steven Rondina eUnited signs three new players, overhaul CS:GO roster Counter-Strike eUnited signs three new players, overhaul CS:GO roster By Olivia Richman
Fnatic loses again, one game from Katowice major elimination Counter-Strike
Fnatic loses again, one game from Katowice major elimination Steven Rondina Fnatic is now on the brink of elimination from the Katowice Major. Following a disappointing loss to Vici Gaming in the first round of the Challengers Stage, the Swedish squad was dealt another blow at the hands of Winstrike Team. This turn threatens to send Fnatic home on the first plane out of Poland. The game was played on Train, arguably the most skewed map in the tournament rotation. The …
Veteran PashaBiceps ends lengthy stay at Virtus.pro Counter-Strike
Veteran PashaBiceps ends lengthy stay at Virtus.pro Steven Rondina Virtus.pro’s Counter-Strike division is now a little less swole. During the opening rounds of the Katowice Major 2019, the organization quietly announced the release of fan favorite veteran Jaroslaw “pashaBiceps” Jarzabkowski on its website. The player has been benched from the team’s active roster since December. PashaBiceps has been a rock for VP for years. Joining in 2014 following a split from ESC Gaming, he helped the Polish team become …
Fnatic stunned in opening game at Katowice Major News
Fnatic stunned in opening game at Katowice Major Steven Rondina The 2019 Katowice Major is off to a surprising start. In the opening game of the event, Chinese underdog Vici Gaming stunned Fnatic with a decisive victory on Overpass. The massive upset saw the bottom seed of the Challengers Stage hand a loss to one of the clear favorites. It was obvious early on that Fnatic was not playing to its peak potential. Vici turned a successful pistol round into …
Cloud9, Fnatic, NRG set for opening matches at Katowice major Counter-Strike
Cloud9, Fnatic, NRG set for opening matches at Katowice major Steven Rondina The IEM XIII Katowice Major is almost here and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive fans now know which games they can look forward to. The eight Challengers Stage matches that will kick off the event were revealed by IEM on the event’s official website, alongside the initial seedings for each team. The pairings are the beginning of a Swiss group stage system that will determine which eight teams advance to the Legends …
North take the top spot at GG.BET Ice Challenge Counter-Strike North take the top spot at GG.BET Ice Challenge By Jared Wynne Valve Anti-Cheat bans over 900,000 accounts in one month Counter-Strike Valve Anti-Cheat bans over 900,000 accounts in one month By Olivia Richman JW and KRiMZ sign on for three more years at Fnatic Counter-Strike JW and KRiMZ sign on for three more years at Fnatic By Olivia Richman
Smooya banned from FPL after telling fellow player to kill himself Counter-Strike
Smooya banned from FPL after telling fellow player to kill himself William Davis It looks like we won’t be seeing pro Counter-Strike player Owen “smooya” Butterfield in FPL matches any time soon. The British teen was banned by FaceIt for telling another top player, Ismail “Refrezh” Ali, to “kill himself” following a match on the platform. Smooya suspected that Ali had purposefully thrown the match and was frustrated with the possible situation. His response to it, however, was dramatically over the line.  Smooya …
Fnatic announces partnership with Twitch News
Fnatic announces partnership with Twitch Olivia Richman Fnatic has promised new live creative content as part of its exclusive streaming partnership with Twitch. Fans can expect to interact more with all of Fnatic’s teams now, as every pro player in the organization will soon be streaming live shows exclusively through Twitch. “We can’t wait to bring out new ideas and experiment with the platform to create future entertainment experiences,” said Fnatic brand director Benoit Pagotto. Thousands of …
Vitality dominate at WePlay Lock and Load Counter-Strike
Vitality dominate at WePlay Lock and Load Olivia Richman Team Vitality has achieved another victory after winning WePlay! Lock and Load. The French team dominated in the grand finals, defeating HellRaisers 2-0. The teams first faced off on Cache, where Vitality closed out the map 16-10 after picking up nine of the first 11 rounds played in the second half. Vitality and HellRaisers then went to Dust2, where Vitality didn’t lose a single round as Counter-Terrorists. The French side …
Mousesports make big changes, part with chrisJ and STYKO News
Mousesports make big changes, part with chrisJ and STYKO Steven Rondina Mousesports is off to a rocky start in the new year. Two weeks removed from its poor performance at the IEM Katowice European Minor, the organization announced the benching of players Chris “chrisJ” de Jong and Martin “STYKO” Styk, as well as coach Sergey “lmbt” Bezhanov, on its official website. Miikka “suNny” Kemppi, Robin “ropz” Kool, and Tomas “oskar” Stastny remain on the team’s active roster. It’s a wild turn …
Counter-Strike legend NEO hits free agency Olivia Richman Counter-Strike After nearly five years with the Virtus.pro organization, Filip “NEO” Kubski is now a free agent. In spite of more recent struggles, Virtus.pro remains one of the most storied names in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The team achieved a major victory at 2014’s EMS Katowice and spent much of the following two years at the top of the burgeoning CS:GO pro scene. But a runner-up finish at ELEAGUE Major: Atlanta in …
DickStacy NSFW sticker turned down by Valve Olivia Richman Counter-Strike Fans of Counter-Strike and phallic objects have been dealt a severe blow. Oliver “DickStacy” Tierney’s phallic sticker submission was immediately rejected by Valve and will not be available for in-game use, despite the wishes of swelling fans. The Grayhound Gaming in-game leader recently qualified for the IEM Katowice 2018 Major, which brings with it the coveted reward of designing your own personal in-game Counter-Strike sticker. DickStacy made no effort to …
Two new maps enter CS:GO competitive rotation Steven Rondina Counter-Strike Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s map pool has gotten a bit more lively. A pair of new defusal maps, Zoo and Abbey, have been added to the competitive rotation. They replace Subzero and Austria, which were removed on the January 24 update following runs of one and two years, respectively. Zoo is a familiar sight for longtime Counter-Strike players. An updated version of the former Operation Bloodhound map, it stands apart from …
Smooya parts ways with BIG, nex steps in gabhernandez Counter-Strike One of Counter-Strike’s biggest trash talkers is parting ways with his team. German esports organisation BIG has announced today that British sensation and up-and-coming CS:GO player Owen “smooya” Butterfield has stepped down from the main roster. The news comes as quite a shock, as smooya’s growth and impact have been substantial and a key part of the team’s successes during the last year. Smooya joined BIG in April 2018 from …
Liquid do the impossible, defeat Astralis in tournament final Steven Rondina Counter-Strike Team Liquid finally scored a finals win over archrival Astralis. The American squad took the top prize at the iBUYPOWER Masters IV event, raking in a cool $100,000 and exacting a much-needed bit of revenge on the Danes after coming up short throughout 2018. It was a strong ending to what was an excellent showing by the team. Liquid’s tournament kicked off with a strong group stage that saw it …
ESL to overhaul CS:GO Pro League structure William Davis Counter-Strike There’s a brand new format coming to the next season of play in the ESL Pro League. ESL’s CS:GO Pro League is changing its format in 2019. Starting on April 12, the best teams from Europe, America, and the Asia-Pacific region will be competing in one of the world’s biggest Counter-Strike: Global Offensive leagues. The group stage will begin with 16 teams divided evenly into four groups of four teams …
Flash Gaming leaves CSGO, alleges corruption in China Steven Rondina Counter-Strike Flash Gaming is getting out of the Counter-Strike business, and the reasons why speak to systems problems in the Chinese Counter-Strike scene. Flash Gaming’s CEO, known by the handle “Enndy,” took to Weibo and made a series of allegations about corruption and a lack of competitive integrity in Chinese professional Counter-Strike. While there has not been an official English statement from the team as of this writing, a rough translation …
x6tence Galaxy claim inaugural WINNERS League title Jared Wynne Counter-Strike In the history of WINNERS League, x6tence Galaxy will always be number one. Swedish Counter-Strike team x6tence Galaxy became the first champions of WINNER League with a three-game victory over Bpro in the playoff final. Both teams came into the final having earned their way. X6tence Galaxy bested such opponents as Nemiga Gaming and Poland’s Pact, needing three games to close out each of their playoff series wins. Bpro’s road …
Bpro and x6tence Galaxy to meet in WINNERS League final Jared Wynne Counter-Strike Two of Europe’s top up-and-coming teams are set to square off in the first ever WINNERS League final. Bpro and x6tence Galaxy triumphed in their respective semifinal battles, setting a date for the competition featuring some of the best young Counter-Strike talents in Europe. X6tence Galaxy was first to qualify, though it was no easy feat. The Swedish side faced off with Belarusian team Nemiga in the semifinals and was …
Battle Royale mode coming to Counter-Strike Steven Rondina Counter-Strike Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is about to join the battle royale party. Developer Valve has revealed that CS:GO will now feature a new battle royale game mode called Danger Zone. The news was announced on Twitter, alongside a lengthy post on the game’s official blog. Like most battle royale game modes, Danger Zone sees a group of players drop into an area, in this case called the Blacksite, in a hunt …
Astralis CSGO stars hit historical money marker Steven Rondina Counter-Strike Three of the founding members of Astralis have cleared a long-standing Counter-Strike hurdle. According to Esportsearnings.com, Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth, Nicolai “device” Reedtz, and Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen have become the first players in Counter-Strike history to earn over $1 million in prize winnings. The threshold was passed at the Esports Championship Series Season 6 finals. Astralis’ 2018 has been one of the most successful years in the game’s history. After opening with …
Astralis, s1mple, Ninja among Esports Awards winners William Davis Counter-Strike Fortnite, Astralis, and Fnatic’s Gabriël “Bwipo” Rau were all among the winners at the Esports Awards 2018. The Esports Awards were back for a third edition of the event. The ceremony was held in London to celebrate the most outstanding members of the esports industry with 22 awards. Winners in each category were chosen with 25% of the votes coming from the community and 75% from the event’s official voting …

Counter-Strike has long been among the biggest titles in esports and competitive gaming, even going back to esports’ deepest roots from decades past. What’s more, the game continues going strong today, with developer and publisher Valve releasing the latest iteration of the franchise in 2023. The newest version, Counter-Strike 2, has not been without its issues. But its popularity continues the enduring prominence of the Counter-Strike series, signaling that the venerated franchise is likely here to stay for many years yet to come.

But how did the franchise come be to so prominent in the esports space, and role does CS2 have to play in the industry moving forward?

Counter-Strike has roots in the beginnings of esports

Counter-Strike was unquestionably one of the biggest drivers of what we would today consider to be early professional esports movement. It was far from alone, and it wasn’t the most advanced. That likely was StarCraft: Brood War, a real-time strategy game from famed developer Blizzard that caught on in South Korea and led to a professional scene in the country well ahead of any examples of esports industry elsewhere in the world.

But outside of Korea, Counter-Strike quickly became the driving force behind competitive gaming and esports. First released in 1999 as a modification for popular first-person shooter Half-Life, the game was easy to pick up and play for many gamers. Half-Life was borderline ubiquitous software for gamers with a PC, and adding a mod to it was as simple as downloading and applying said mod. So it was that Counter-Strike began to catch fire and spread across the world.

As it spread, so too did its competitive play. Early competitions often centered around online play, most prominently including the Cyberathlete Amateur League (CAL) in North America and the Clanbase Eurocup in Europe. But live, in-person tournaments, similar to those enjoyed by StarCraft players and fans in Korea, were also rising in prominence.

Within just a few years, there were a number of major annual tournaments being held for the original version of Counter-Strike. Notable international tournament organizers included the Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL) in the United States, the Electronic Sports World Cup (ESWC) in France, and the World Cyber Games (WCG) in Korea. This was in addition to many other regional tournaments through which teams could test their mettle and battle over smaller prizes.

But even at bigger tournaments, prizes weren’t what they are today, and in general there was far less money available to professional Counter-Strike players than there is in today’s thriving esports industry which sees many players and teams playing at the full-time pro level. That’s a far cry from a time when perhaps a small handful of players were able to make a true living through playing CS alone, and even them, it was often a modest one.

Counter-Strike 2 at the fore of a bigger esports scene than ever before

Counter-Strike 2 was released to a far different esports space than that which the original Counter-Strike occupied. But what exactly is it that has changed the scene so much, besides the accrual of years?

Esports betting is at the top of the list. The sports betting industry is growing and expanding around the world each and every year, and esports has absolutely been a part of that. As esports betting continues to grow and thrive, it brings its benefits to the games that are being bet on. And Counter-Strike 2 is at the top of that list.

These benefits have arrived through a myriad of means. Fan interest in tournaments has gone up and become more consistent with betting markets available for each and every game played, which further incentivizes tournament organizers and their sponsoring partners. But those partners are also now more likely to work with the pro teams and players themselves. Betting operators are among the most common and most generous sponsors in the pro CS2 space, showing how esports betting’s rise has contributed to Counter-Strike’s continued prominence in esports and competitive gaming as a whole.