Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
CSGO fan ports Dust 2 into Source 2 and it looks amazing
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive fans have long wondered what the game would look like in Source 2, and one fan took it into their own hands to find out. YouTuber Gabe Follower has been experimenting on a number of different Valve titles, including CSGO. One of those experiments is porting parts of CSGO into s&box, the spiritual successor to Garry’s Mod that runs in Source 2. Gabe Follower seems to have …
Counter-Strike
CSGO star s1mple is now a playable hero in Raid: Shadow Legends
William Davis
Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev will soon become available as a playable character in Raid: Shadow Legends. As part of a partnership with Natus Vincere, s1mple has been added as a playable character to the mobile game. This will see the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive star become a playable character in a game he’s not actually known for. The newest legendary champion will become available for free on December 1. s1mple’s legendary champion …
Counter-Strike
Is Valve giving CSGO players fake matchmaking ban notices?
Nicholas James
Valve’s known to have plenty of problems with Counter-Strike’s matchmaking, including requiring a third party to stabilize the matchmaking experience. However, a new issue may be rearing its head, with players rejoining matches after supposedly abandoning said match. Despite the chat announcing the player’s cooldown, they appear to immediately be reseeded into the game despite their alleged cooldown. In a recent Reddit post, a fan highlighted an interesting scenario that …
Counter-Strike
BLAST Premier Fall Finals grand finals betting analysis
William Davis
CSGO bettors are spoiled in late 2021. After IEM Cologne and PGL Major Stockholm, there’s one more chance to bet on LAN play at the BLAST Premier Fall Finals. The BLAST Premier Fall Finals combined a $425,000 prize pool with eight of the best Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams in the world. The playoffs bracket has whittled the field down to the final three. Team Vitality, Astralis, and Natus Vincere are …
Counter-Strike
These are the best KovaaK 2.0 aim training courses for CSGO
William Davis
There are hundreds of aim training courses available in KovaaK, and it can be hard to choose from all of them. That’s why we’ve assembled a list of the very best training courses for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players in KovaaK 2.0. In CSGO, hectic gunfights can be decided in just fractions of a second. KovaaK 2.0 is designed to hone your skills faster than mindlessly grinding away in ranked matchmaking. …
Counter-Strike
We found the worst crosshairs possible in CSGO
William Davis
The best Counter-Strike crosshair is always a matter of debate, but the worst ones can ruin even the best players’ aim. After countless years of searching, we might have found the worst crosshair possible in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Social media users have posted thousands of strange crosshairs from all over the world but this one, which was shared on Reddit, stands out as particularly bad. The crosshair belongs to an …
Counter-Strike
CSGO Operation Riptide week 10 mission guide
William Davis
Operation Riptide week 10 is titled Decompression, so feel free to relax while earning all six stars with the help of our guide. Raise your Operation Riptide stash to 64 stars by completing week 10’s challenges. This week has some of the easiest missions yet. Whether you’re grinding ranked on Nuke or mowing down bots with the AUG, these six stars should be relatively painless to rack up. Here’s our …
Counter-Strike
Why does CSGO need third-party matchmaking to work?
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has one of the overall strongest online multiplayer experiences in gaming, so long as you don’t count on Valve for anything. CSGO’s deep gunplay and emphasis on teamwork and communication makes it a one-of-a-kind game. The trouble is that outside the core gameplay experience, pretty much everything else in CSGO kind of stinks. So how did it get to the point where one of the biggest games …
Valve reveals winning skins for the Dreams and Nightmares contest
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s Dreams and Nightmares skin contest is over and players will likely be scrambling to add some of the winners to their armory. At long last, Valve has revealed the 17 winning skins for the $1 million Dreams and Nightmares contest. The reveal was made on the official CSGO blog with each skin having either a spooky or fantastical motif. Valve also confirmed that the prize pool for …
CSGO star s1mple is actually even better than you think
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Anyone with a vague familiarity with the Counter-Strike esports scene knows that Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev is absurdly good. But statistics suggest he might actually be even better than people think. Pley.gg crunched the numbers to determine the highest-rated player on every CSGO competitive map. With the sole exception of Vertigo, the Natus Vincere star was the best on every single active duty map in 2021. In some cases, second place …
How rare are black pearls? CSGO’s rarest knife skins explained
William Davis
Counter-Strike
The rarest knife in CSGO is so exclusive that many players haven’t even heard of it. As of Operation Riptide, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has a grand total of 25 different knife finishes. Add in StatTrak and finish quality, and there are more than 200 possible combinations of knife skins. Out of that massive pool, one knife finish stands above the rest as the absolute rarest in all of CSGO. Rubies …
Leaker claims m0NESY and ropz will join G2 Esports
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Natus Vincere announced that it would be taking offers for rising superstar Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov’s contract. Just one day later, leakers are rattling off Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams that are eyeing him, with G2 Esports being at the top of the list. According to Russian CSGO veteran Aleksey “OverDrive” Biryukov, m0NESY’s most likely destination is pan-European sponsor G2 Esports. OverDrive is a popular Russian personality who previously played professionally and …
Five of the best cheap knives to buy in CSGO
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Cheap CSGO knives can help you show your style in the server without breaking the bank. Knives are the ultimate flex in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. You’re guaranteed to see your melee weapon every round when you run into action, so a nice custom skin is a clear upgrade. CSGO knives can get very expensive, but you don’t need to shell out thousands of dollars for a nice knife skin. These …
Why is CSGO selling Battlefield 2042 stickers in its store?
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Battlefield 2042 stickers are now available in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. And yes, you’re reading that right. Late on November 17, Valve quietly pushed an update to CSGO for a new Battlefield 2042 sticker capsule. All of the designs are references to the latest edition of DICE’s sandbox shooter. The designs include references to combat drones, portal mode, multiplayer storms, and the infamous penguins seen in the trailer. As a new release, …
CSGO Operation Riptide week nine mission guide
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Week nine of Operation Riptide is called Nautical Mile, so enjoy some oceanside views while you line up headshots. Week nine of Operation Riptide should boost your star reserves to 58, which gets you even closer to shiny new Counter-Strike: Global Offensive cosmetics. From new gun skins to agents, stickers, patches, and more, there’s tons of stuff to purchase in the Riptide store. Here’s how to secure the six maximum …
Is Valve keeping too many players at silver rank in your region?
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
The ranked matchmaking experience in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive varies wildly from region to region, and the stats back that up. They also reveal some interesting trends that can help to explain where players are ranked. Leetify tracks the number of players that are at each rank of CSGO, with the site identifying a radical difference between certain regions. The differences are demonstrated perfectly with a bar graph that shows the …
s1mple gives Stockholm Major-winning mouse to James Banks
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
After winning his first-ever Counter-Strike: Global Offensive major, Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev decided to give the Stockholm Major-winning mouse to event host James Banks. s1mple is often said to be one of the best CSGO players of all time. He burst onto the scene in 2014 when playing for Lane Dodgers but became a star with Team Liquid in 2016. Despite his jaw-dropping skills and long list of achievements while playing …
Can the new Astralis roster dominate the offline era?
William Davis
Counter-Strike
The new Astralis roster is certainly turning heads, but when will it start winning championships? Astralis has officially confirmed its lineup for the 2022 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive season. The storied organization has gone through more than a dozen roster changes since travel restrictions shut down CSGO majors in 2020. A disappointing Legends stage exit at PGL Stockholm Major was the nail in the coffin for the old Astralis era. The …
FalleN, fer, coldzera may be reuniting on a new team
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo, Fernando “fer” Alvarenga, and Marcelo “coldzera” David currently aren’t attached to a major esports organization for 2022. That might change in the near future. According to various reports and an abundance of rumors, four members of the two-time major-winning lineup of SK Gaming and Luminosity Gaming are set to reunite. FalleN, fer, and coldzera may be teaming up with Lincoln “fnx” Lau for a “last dance” run …
Stockholm Major autographs release with Flashbang Dance kit
William Davis
Counter-Strike
CSGO fans can finally get their hands on player autographs from the Stockholm Major. Early on November 10, Valve released a new update for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The new version includes the highly-anticipated player autographs from PGL Major Stockholm. Championship squad Natus Vincere has its own capsule, while the other top eight teams are divided into another capsule. Both Champions and Finalists autograph capsules are available for 99 cents through …
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.
