Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Massive shotgun and VAC buff added in new CS2 update
William Davis
CS2 is adding a ton of gameplay changes to the Counter-Strike, and the latest update will make shotgun buyers very happy. Valve has finally updated the limited beta test for Counter-Strike 2, swapping out Dust 2 for Mirage and tweaking gameplay to better reflect the new mechanics. Chief among these changes is a massive buff to shotguns, which now blast through smoke grenades similarly to frag grenades. It also includes …
Counter-Strike
Players can now cook chicken roast in Counter-Strike 2
Fariha Bhatti
Craving some chicken? Just load up Counter-Strike 2 and get them freshly roasted in an incendiary! Valve has added a wealth of new content to CS2, and now the developer is clearly going overboard with updates, and we don’t mind. After overhauling loadout and plucking out Dust 2, Valve has added an edible item to CS2, except you can’t actually eat it. Roast chickens are there to be admired and …
Counter-Strike
A new map is finally in the Counter-Strike 2 beta
Olivia Richman
The Counter-Strike 2 beta is finally getting another map. The CS2 beta has been getting some mixed reviews from streamers and pro players, largely complaints about the repetitiveness of the limited content. Competitive players were stuck on one map, Dust II since the beta came out at the end of March. After a while, the single map pool caused the beta’s player count to dwindle. But now, CS2 players are …
Counter-Strike
CS2 will let players refund guns, equip both CT rifles
Fariha Bhatti
Just when everyone assumed Valve had forgotten about Counter-Strike 2, the developer unveiled jaw-dropping updates. CS2 release date is looming on the horizon, and Valve has started revealing more updates, features, and changes coming to its hit FPS title. After reactive smokes, squeaky-clean visuals, and a sub-tick system, Valve has introduced a new feature inspired by its rival shooter game, Valorant. Valorant has had enough flak for “copy-pasting” CSGO gameplay, …
Counter-Strike
ENCE is the Cinderella champion of IEM Dallas CSGO
William Davis
IEM Dallas has found an unlikely champion in ENCE, with the international squad reaching a new peak in 2023. After seven days of intense competition featuring many of the world’s top teams, ENCE has emerged victorious at IEM Dallas. The underdog victory included wins over Complexity, Astralis, and FaZe twice, culminating in a grand final against fellow dark horse MOUZ. ENCE won in two dominant maps, securing the IEM Dallas …
Counter-Strike
frozen on IEM Dallas grand finals, “Feels great to be back”
William Davis
David “frozen” Čerňanský of MOUZ is heading into his first grand final in a long time at IEM Dallas, but he’s as calm as can be. MOUZ is just one match away from pulling off the ultimate Cinderella run in Dallas. The squad has defeated Fnatic, Furia, OG, Astralis, and now event favorite Heroic to earn a spot in the deciding series. Along the way, rifler frozen has put up …
Counter-Strike
HooXi talks nightmare brackets, pre-match rituals, and CS2 at IEM Dallas
William Davis
G2 Esports may be the unluckiest team at IEM Dallas, but captain Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen isn’t using bracket demons as an excuse. Despite entering as a serious championship contender, G2’s run was ultimately cut short by losses to Heroic in the group stage and FaZe Clan in the playoffs. The star-studded lineup will be leaving Texas in fifth place. Right after the loss, WIN.gg caught a moment with team captain …
Counter-Strike
blameF reveals his 200 IQ decoy strats at IEM Dallas
William Davis
Astralis is out of IEM Dallas, but Benjamin “blameF” Bremer still has his head held high. For most teams, a fifth-place finish at Intel Extreme Masters is something to celebrate. However, Astralis is not like most teams. The historic organization entered the event gunning for a championship but fell short after losing to MOUZ in the quarter-finals. WIN.gg was lucky to catch up with star rifler blameF to talk about …
“I would change the AWP”: NertZ talks CS2 at IEM Dallas
William Davis
Counter-Strike
A fast track to the semifinals is only the start of Guy “NertZ” Iluz at IEM Dallas. ENCE is currently on a roll, triumphing over some of the event’s biggest names to earn an advanced spot in the playoffs. Already guaranteed top four, the team is currently preparing to face the winner of G2 Esports and FaZe, hopefully adding another victory over a top team to its run. WIN.gg sat …
“It’s always a nice feeling to stomp another team”: Heroic’s Jabbi on making HooXi upset at IEM Dallas
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Just before the final three matches of IEM Dallas, WIN.gg caught up with Heroic rifler Jakob “Jabbi” Nygaard. To little surprise, Heroic clinched an advanced spot in the semifinals of IEM Dallas after a dominant group stage run. The tournament favorite cruises past 9z, MOUZ, and G2 Esports to secure a top four placing. On day one of the playoffs, WIN.gg caught up with Jabbi to learn more about his …
nitr0 to leave CSGO, will he return to Valorant yet again?
William Davis
Counter-Strike
After a long career in Counter-Strike, then Valorant, then Counter-Strike again, Nicholas “nitr0” Cannella will be officially retiring from both competitive communities. After returning to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive with much fanfare in 2023, the esteemed Team Liquid captain will once again be leaving the game’s esports scene. The player is best known for helping win Season 2 of the Intel Grand Slam in 2019, making him the only North American …
Hiko explains why he called Valorant community “cringe”
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Retired CSGO pro player Spencer “Hiko” Martin thinks Valorant players are cringe, but he has a solid reason to explain why he feels so strongly. The Valorant vs. CSGO rivalry is still going strong, which is pretty healthy for both games to a certain extent. But the fan base is always on the lookout to compare the two titles. This time, Hiko has reignited the debate on his recent CSGO …
CSGO players claim getting banned for profile comments
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Valve’s ban policy seems to be either for no reason at all or for every possible reason, as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players claim they’re now getting banned for profile comments. On May 10, Steam labeled gambling as a bannable offense in clear words for the first time ever. The platform’s new prohibited behavior includes “posting advertisements; running contests; gambling; buying or selling Steam accounts; selling content, gift cards, or other …
Is Russia the best country at CSGO? Stats say so
William Davis
Counter-Strike
The final count of country representation at CSGO majors shows that Russia is the best, but is that the full story? CSGO stats website Scope.GG has analyzed all 18 majors in the game’s history to determine which nations fare the best at the top level. To very little surprise, Russia dominates the rankings in terms of quantity. The nation has fielded 52 total players to the majors, with Denmark as …
CS2 release date: Everything we know so far
William Davis
Counter-Strike
The official release plan for CS2 is still under wraps, but a few important clues may point to a certain month for the release date. The limited beta test for CS2 has languished since its initial launch last month. However, there’s no doubt that Valve is hard at work on polishing the Source 2 version of Counter-Strike. Moving an existing game to a new engine while keeping as much of …
“She played hard”: CSGO community mourns passing of pro ShazZ
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
The Counter-Strike: Global Offensive community’s hearts collectively broke over the weekend when it was revealed that Sharon “ShazZ” Waison passed away. The cause of ShazZ’s untimely death has not been made public, but the South African CSGO pro had been dealing with complicated medical issues for years. She most recently was dealing with COVID while getting dialysis. On her Twitter bio, ShazZ has written that she was fighting kidney failure. …
Two ways to get agent skins in Counter-Strike explained
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Agent skins are one of the more controversial cosmetic options in Counter-Strike history, so newer players have a harder time learning how to get them. But we have a few ways to get them. Love them or hate them, CS2 agent skins are here to stay. While they haven’t been confirmed for Counter-Strike 2, Valve has affirmed that all gun, glove, and knife skins will be ported over to the …
CSGO fan pranks community with fake knife unboxing at Major
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
A CSGO fan at the Paris Major has trolled the entire community with a fake knife unboxing. Case openings at Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Majors are nothing new. Skin enthusiasts in the audience have been doing it for a long time, sometimes hitting the jackpot but — most times — ending up with scrap items. You need insane luck to end up with rare skins, leave alone a knife. But that …
Gaben’s no-show at last CSGO Major leaves fans heartbroken
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Valve’s absence at the last Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major is both heartbreaking and infuriating for fans, who were counting on Gabe Newell’s speech — or at least an appearance. Gabe Newell is synonymous with Valve. The president of Valve Corporation and all things CSGO makes a note of showing up at The International Dota 2 events, even if it’s just for the trophy reveal. But this appearance was always curiously …
Team Vitality ends CSGO era with a Paris Major win
William Davis
Counter-Strike
The Paris Major is over, and Team Vitality stands victorious at Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s last dance on the international stage. After dominating the legends stage and cruising through the playoffs without dropping a single map, Team Vitality has brought a close to the legacy of CSGO majors. It’s also one of the most dominant major victories of all time, matched only by Nastus Vincere’s undefeated run at the 2022 Stockholm …
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.
