Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Three awesome CSGO Christmas gift ideas
William Davis
There are plenty of great Christmas gifts for the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive fans in your life. Christmas is a time of giving, and what better gift than something related to their favorite video game? CSGO is extremely popular, and all sorts of merchandise and collectibles are available online. If you’re shopping for a CSGO fan, here are three great gift ideas to inspire you. Paintings are a perfect way to …
Counter-Strike
Iconic map Dust 2 has officially been removed from CSGO
William Davis
On a dark day for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive grinders everywhere, Dust 2 has been removed from the active duty map pool. Valve has announced a new round of gameplay changes following the conclusion of the Rio Major. The most beloved map Dust 2 has been removed from the active duty pool and has been replaced with Anubis. The M4A1-S and AWP also both received substantial nerfs, which will have major …
Counter-Strike
WePlay Academy League Season 6 Playoffs schedule, format, and more
Fariha Bhatti
The final stage of WePlay Academy Season 6 is coming, and the new champion of the battle of the academies is about to be determined. Within Season 6, 14 teams participated in the competition for the prize pool of $100,000, but only four could reach the final Playoff stage, starting on November 18. The Season started with the Group Stage, where the teams, divided into two groups of seven teams …
Counter-Strike
The Rio Major platinum coin is one of CSGO’s rarest items
William Davis
The Rio Major platinum coin can’t be traded or listed on the Steam market, but if it could, it would fetch quite a hefty price. Platinum Major coins are the ultimate way to show off knowledge of the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive esports scene. To earn one, players must accurately predict the outcomes of all three stages of an official Valve-hosted major. They wax and wane in rarity from tournament to …
Counter-Strike
This CSGO player has the weirdest controls of all time
William Davis
Pro players controls are a common topic of discussion in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, but there’s one setup that new players should avoid entirely. Thanks to some esports’ decades of competitive history, players have picked up some pretty weird quirks. Whether it’s click-to-drag in StarCraft or legacy keys in Dota 2, customizable controls always lead to players making wild changes to their inputs. However, one professional CSGO player has reached the …
Counter-Strike
New CSGO stats show eco rounds win matches
William Davis
No one ever wants to eco in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, but the win rate of pistols against rifles is higher than some players may expect. Eco rounds are a necessary evil in CSGO. After a bad buy attempt or run of bad luck, the very thought of bringing peashooters to a gunfight is enough to make most players splurge for MAC-10s. However, the success of economically conservative rounds is finally …
News
What’s the best platform for CSGO trading in 2022?
Fariha Bhatti
The best online trading platforms offer advanced features, fast execution, stability, and reliability. All of this is difficult to find in one trading platform, but DMarket comes close to ticking all boxes in 2022. Most traders are motivated to trade in order to increase the general value of their inventory and to get cash in their wallets. A marketplace is just a tool to reach these goals. The recent cs.money …
Counter-Strike
Connector boost on Overpass can help lock the entire map
Fariha Bhatti
Overpass is littered with unusual boosts that look shady at first but are completely legal to use. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is known for its realistic and cutthroat gameplay, but only dedicated players are familiar with the dark side of CSGO. The game is littered with longstanding bugs and absurd mechanics. This new Overpass boost is the latest in the long list of exploit-like, powerful mechanics. Most recently, players are highlighting a viable …
The best Pick’ems for the Rio Major legends stage
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players who listened to our Rio Major challengers stage pick’ems already have a free souvenir token, and the legends stage is now up for speculation. CSGO players who followed our challengers stage pick’ems have already secured a silver coin, the legends stage is an opportunity to advance to gold. Upgrading the coin also grants a free souvenir token, so there are plenty of reasons to research your …
The Skin.Club Pick’Em Challenge for Rio Major 2022
William Davis
News
The upcoming IEM Rio Major 2022 in Brazil will be an unforgettable event for every CSGO fan. Pick’Ems have been around for a long time, allowing fans to pick specific teams and predict if they will make it to the next tournament round. While Valve is preparing to add the analog of the Battle Pass to CSGO, Skin.Club has launched its own Pick’Em Challenge. The event has a prize pool …
Legendary AWPer dev1ce has officially returned to Astralis
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
It’s a good day for Astralis fans as the iconic trio of Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander, Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth, and Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz are officially reuniting under the red flag. After a string of leaks and reports, the Danish organization has confirmed the highly-awaited return of Mr. Consistent, more commonly known as dev1ce. The AWP maestro and legendary Counter-Strike: Global Offensive professional player who led Astralis to their pinnacle will hop back into the server but in …
The best predictions for the CSGO Rio Major challenger stage
William Davis
Counter-Strike
The Rio Major challenger stage is almost here, and our predictions are based on Major history, recent form, and vibes. The Rio Major is a rare opportunity for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players to get their hands on more souvenir gun skins. Players who have purchased the pass can earn free souvenir tokens and even a platinum coin for correctly predicting how the world’s best CSGO teams will perform. The challenger …
Which bomb sites are most popular in CSGO? The stats reveal all
William Davis
Counter-Strike
With two bomb sites on each Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, it’s easy to think they’d be equally popular. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth. New stats from Scope.gg have revealed the popularity of bomb sites on each major CSGO map. While a 50/50 split seems logical, it’s clear that T side players are very biased when it comes to picking a venue. While not particularly useful on its own, …
How to get souvenir gun skins from the CSGO Rio Major
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Souvenirs are a big part of any big Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event and the Rio Major is no exception. Even CSGO players with no interest in the esports scene can appreciate a healthy injection of both stickers and souvenir skins into the game. However, fans who are getting back into CSGO in time for the major may not understand Valve’s massive overhaul for commemorative cases. Here’s how to get souvenir …
VAC wave resurges with 2,000 more bans, what could it mean?
William Davis
Counter-Strike
A VAC ban wave is a reason for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players to celebrate, and Valve appears to be in a very festive mood. CSGO ban database ConVars has revealed a second wave of VAC bans less than a month after the last major spike. On October 14, 2022, Valve handed out 2,284 game bans along with a few hundred VAC violations. That’s about ten times the normal rate of …
This glitched Overpass boost is OP, but totally legal to use
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
A new glitched boost spot on Overpass is making rounds on the internet, but it’s completely legit and good to use. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is known for its realistic and cut throat gameplay, but only dedicated players are familiar with the dark side of CSGO. The game is littered with longstanding bugs and absurd mechanics. CSGO’s black market tech now includes a boost so overpowered that players are convinced it’s …
CSGO skins worth $6 million hacked, cs.money reveals compensation plans
William Davis
Counter-Strike
After being hit with a $6 million hack, cs.money is paying the price on behalf of its users. In August of 2022, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive skin market cs.money announced that it had been hit with a hack snatching of $6 million in digital assets. After identifying the thief and recovering what it could, there is still around $2 million worth of skins unable to be recovered. How cs.money responds to …
k0ngif reveals details of Malta fight after Astralis drops him
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Astralis has dropped Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke from the starting roster of their Counter-Strike: Global Offensive division, citing personal circumstances. k0nfig has played a pivotal role in Astralis’ shooter lineup since November 2021. The reputed CSGO player joined the Danish organization after a tumultuous stint with Complexity alongside Benjamin “blameF” Bremer — a move that seemed refreshing at the surface failed to have much impact. Despite it all, Astralis retained the core players. …
All the teams and favorites qualified for the CSGO Rio Major
William Davis
Counter-Strike
The qualified teams for the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Rio Major have finally been decided. The Rio Major will break new ground for CSGO esports with the first major hosted in South America. The preceding Regional Major Rankings event was fierce with only 24 teams earning a trip to the $1,250,000 event. With the Americas division wrapping up on October 9, CSGO fans can finally know exactly which teams will compete …
Astralis bombs out of RMR, dupreeh becomes sole all-Majors player
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Astralis has been disqualified from the Rio Major after going 1-3 in the European A RMR. The unexpected result will break Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth’s all-Majors streak, possibly leaving former Astralis rifler Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen as the only pro Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player to attend every Major. Astralis entered the Rio Major RMR as a solid favorite to qualify. However, a difficult first-round matchup against Ninjas in Pyjamas immediately resulted in …
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.
