Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
JW and KRiMZ sign on for three more years at Fnatic
Olivia Richman
Two Counter-Strike legends are in it for the long haul with their team. Fnatic revealed new three-year contracts for Jesper “JW” Wecksell and Freddy “KRiMZ” Johansson, who the organization called “esports legends” and “two of the greatest Counter-Strike players of all time.” JW and KRiMZ have been playing together on Fnatic since 2014, except for a short six-month stint with GODSENT. JW joined Fnatic in mid-2013, while KRiMZ was signed …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Counter-Strike
Two new maps enter CS:GO competitive rotation
Steven Rondina
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 …
Counter-Strike
Smooya parts ways with BIG, nex steps in
gabhernandez
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 …
Counter-Strike
Liquid do the impossible, defeat Astralis in tournament final
Steven Rondina
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 …
Counter-Strike
ESL to overhaul CS:GO Pro League structure
William Davis
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 …
Astralis defeat MIBR in tight ECS final
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Astralis’ reign of terror continues. The Danish team took yet another first-place finish in Arlington, Texas, claiming the top prize at the Esports Championship Series Season 6 final. It’s the squad’s fourth live event victory of the fall season, and the eighth six-figure prize secured in 2018. Though yet another trophy was added to the Danish side’s mantel, victory didn’t necessarily come easy. The event started with Astralis trouncing Cloud9 in the …
Astralis add another title in Chicago
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Astralis are the champions of Intel Extreme Masters Season XIII. The Danish squad added another trophy to its mantel in Chicago by taking first place at the event with a 3-0 win over Team Liquid in the grand finals. Though it managed to knot up the top spot with a sweep, Astralis didn’t skate through the tournament by any means. The team started its run with a pair of solid …
New Counter-Strike update brings spooky Halloween treats
gabhernandez
Counter-Strike
Halloween is fast approaching and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players have been greeted with an early treat of haunting ghosts and a spooky new map layout. The Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Halloween update allows players to turn into ghosts after they die. This feature is only available in Casual, Demolition, and Flying Scoutsman game modes. As ghosts, players can haunt their opponents and roam the map freely. They can also apply graffiti …
Counter-Strike pro caught cheating at tournament
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Fans that stayed up to watch the eXTREMESLAND Asia Counter-Strike tournament got a bit of a shock. While facing Vietnamese team Revolution, Nikhil “Forsaken” Kumawat of OpTic India was caught cheating. The announcement was made following a lengthy pause in action, and was followed by the ejection of his team from the event. https://twitter.com/CSGO2ASIA/status/1053188955615588352 According to CSGO2Asia.com, during OpTic India’s second map against Revolution, Forsaken was flagged for suspicious activity …
Mouz deny Liquid at ESL One New York
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Mousesports’ Counter-Strike team is back in business. After an ugly showing at the FACEIT Major: London, the European side returned to form at ESL One: New York. There, it battled its way to the top of the tournament, taking first place and the $125,000 prize. ESL One: New York started well for Mouz, as the team went 2-0 to take first place in its group, which also included Gambit Esports, …
Astralis defeat Na`Vi to win London Major
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Astralis are once again Counter-Strike major champions. The Danish team took the top prize at FACEIT Major: London, sweeping Natus Vincere in the tournament’s grand finals. It was a great ending to what was a nearly flawless performance by the Danes. Astralis’ major began with a strong run through the New Challengers Stage, as the team advanced with a 3-1 record that included wins over CompLexity Gamging, Rogue, and Team …
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.
