Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
BLAST 2023 Paris Major Champion Stage full schedule
William Davis
Everything is set for the Champion Stage in the 2023 Paris Major. Eight CSGO squads remain in the run for the title. The full schedule for the remainder of the 2023 Paris Major has been decided. 24 teams made it to the 2023 BLAST.tv Paris Major but only eight still have a chance to snatch the title. The Legends Stage was full of exciting matches, and the final standings weren’t …
Counter-Strike
The best Pick’ems for the Paris Major playoffs
William Davis
The Paris Major has reached its final stage, and the Pick’ems for the playoffs marks the very last time fans will get to engage with this piece of Global Offensive history. The Paris Major started with a whopping 24 teams, but only eight remain in the fight for CSGO’s last major championship. The playoffs are already set, with first-round matches announced shortly following the legends stage. If you went with …
Counter-Strike
CSGO is now high art after ZywOo’s clip reaches Louvre
Fariha Bhatti
A CSGO clip has reached the Louvre, placed among like likes of the Mona Lisa, Th Raft of Medusa, and more. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s incredibly high skill ceiling has made it really easy for gifted players to find their fan base. However, among 1.8 million players, there are only a few who have reached the pinnacle of sheer, unmatched skill. And since getting to the top is so tricky, mechanically gifted players …
Counter-Strike
CSGO commentator mocks pros during Paris Major, thinks mic is turned off
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive commentator James Banks had some harsh words caught on the mic, calling out CSGO players. The CSGO Paris Major is underway, with the top teams in the world fighting to prove themselves and snag the $1,250,000 million prize pool. But not everyone is impressed with the competing teams, including commentator Banks. Banks was recently talking privately to another commentator about modern Counter-Strike players, unaware that his words …
Counter-Strike
CSGO shatters records with jaw-dropping player count
Fariha Bhatti
The Counter-Strike 2 release date is unknown, but that doesn’t stop millions of players from tuning into their favorite FPS title — 1.8 million players, to be precise. CSGO has been breaking and making new records all through 2023. Thanks to CS2 leaks and reports, the game’s audience is as active as ever, waiting to try out the classic FPS in modern Source 2 visuals. Even though Valve has been …
Counter-Strike
Best Pick’ems for the Paris Major challengers stage
William Davis
Pick’ems for the Paris Major challengers stage are now live, and that means the opportunity to score some free souvenir gun skins. The Paris Major will send CSGO off in style, as it’s the very last major before the launch of Counter-Strike 2. Every team wants the honor of winning the final major, but only one can take the crown along with the $500,000 grand prize. It all starts in …
Counter-Strike
Everything included in the 2023 Paris Major Viewer Pass
William Davis
The Blast.TV Paris Major is starting soon, featuring 24 teams competing for the title. These Counter-Strike: Global Offensive squads are not the only ones who can win, you can get rewards for watching with everything the 2023 Paris Major Viewer Pass. The Paris Major Viewer Pass is the best way to support your favorite teams and also get rewarded for tuning in to the event. There are two tiers available, …
Counter-Strike
Why is Valve kicking players out of CS2 beta?
Fariha Bhatti
CS2 players woke up to their beta access being revoked out of nowhere. What could it possibly mean? Valve granted Counter-Strike 2 access only to the cream of the crop. Players who stayed loyal to Matchmaking, however broken it may be, were rewarded with rare CS2 access in March. Since then, the remaining majority has been waiting for their lucky day, but it’s starting to seem like a pie in …
Check out the decade-old AWP hack kept hidden by CSGO players
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
What if we told you it’s possible to no-scope enemies in CSGO every single time? Well, there’s a long-standing secret hack in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive that gives you a regular crosshair on AWP, enabling no-scopes. CSGO has a litany of long-standing bugs, thanks to Valve not really offering fixes unless absolutely necessary. This means OGs are aware of some hacks that are game-breaking in MM. You won’t see them being …
$15,000 Paris Major pick ’em contest announced for Skin.Club
William Davis
Counter-Strike
The Paris Major is coming soon, and Skin.Club is putting up a $15,000 prize pool for its pick’ems to celebrate the final big tournament of CSGO. Pick’ems are the best way for Counter-Strike fans to show off their knowledge of the pro scene. Predicting the outcome of matches usually just earns a shiny coin and some souvenir skins, but one company is putting valuable prizes on the line for hard …
Millions of Anubis packages sell out in CSGO within 24 hours
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Players have purchased an insane amount of Anubis packages in CSGO as Counter-Strike 2 release date nears. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive market is thriving, and amid sky-rocketing sales, Valve has announced the Anubis collection package and players are hoarding the cases like there’s no tomorrow. In fresh news, millions of Anubis packages have sold out. According to credible data miner and skin aficianado TDM_Heyzeus, players have purchased about 5.5 million Anubis …
GuardiaN has put his AWP up for auction after eight years
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive sharp-shooter Ladislav “GuardiaN” Kovács is retiring his AWP Asiimov after eight years, and it’s being auctioned on a skin website. On April 25, GuardiaN listed his iconic AWP, which he used between 2014 and 2022, on a skin website called Buff. The Field Tested AWP has a 0.276874 float and features three different GuardiaN stickers. Even more importantly, it was used by GuardiaN, an AWPer that formerly …
M4A4 Howl sells for $215K, here’s why that’s not enough
William Davis
Counter-Strike
The M4A4 | Howl is one of the most iconic skins in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and while $215,000 may seem like a ton of money, it’s not even close to full value. With Counter-Strike 2 on the horizon, it seems like there’s a new massive skin deal happening every week. Last time it was a $500,000 deal on a blue gem combo, and before that, it was a juicer AK-47 …
CSGO Anubis collection’s low-cost skins look too fancy
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
The new CSGO Anubis collection is an instant hit among players for its unique purchase method and eye-catching skins. Typically, skins in CSGO arrive in cases, which is mostly a matter of luck. But now, Valve has rolled out a “package” which can be bought multiple times on a single account. Anubis collection will allow players to aim for their favorite skins within the package as often as possible since …
There will be an exclusive CS2 playtest at DreamHack Japan
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike fans in Japan will get an exclusive public playtest of CS2, but it may not be enough to build a competitive esports scene. The first-ever DreamHack event in Japan will come with a special surprise for the country’s Counter-Strike scene. DreamHack Japan is confirmed to feature a public playtest of CS2, which is currently limited to an extremely small set of players through Stream. The event will give players …
Fan discovers potential reason behind slow CS2 beta access
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Developments on Counter-Strike 2 have been stagnant since its bombshell reveal, and the reason may not be what you expect. Fans are chomping at the bit for more CS2 news, but close to nothing has come out about the engine refresh since the launch of the limited beta test. Valve is notoriously quiet about future projects, but it would make sense to keep the hype train rolling. However, a massive …
Blue gem AK-47 and karambit combo sells for $500,000
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Another massive skin deal just went down in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, with a blue gem AK-47 and karambit selling for over $500,000. Blue gems are the pinnacle of most CSGO skin collections, but just like pet rabbits or reptiles, they can get lonely by themselves. This is totally why one CSGO collector dropped over $500,000 on a blue gem combo featuring two of the most coveted skins in the game. …
These are statistically the best CSGO players in 2023
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Every FACEIT player hopes to gain some sweet, sweet ELO with every win, and these pros have racked up the highest rankings in the entire world. Third-party matchmaking services have become the de facto standard for top-level play in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Valve matchmaking, with its mediocre anti-cheat and 64-tick servers, just doesn’t cut it. However, server providers like FACEIT also allow for a more in-depth rating system than Valve’s …
Ceiling collapse during CSGO game forces player to end stream
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
A game of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive may have just saved a Twitch streamer from a ceiling collapse. CSGO streamers are known for their ability to come up with unique and engaging content, but there are situations that are beyond their control, like ceilings collapsing mid-stream. Not every day do you see a streamer playing CSGO while a roof casually caves in the background. But that’s exactly what happened to Dylastein. …
This CSGO player scored 5 kills in just 1 AWP shot
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Five kills with a single AWP shot is something most players can only dream about, but one random player lived the dream in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. For the first time in recorded history, a CSGO player earned five kills from a single AWP shot in public matchmaking. The feat has been performed dozens of times in simulations, but this seems to be only the second time it has ever occurred …
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.
