Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
FalleN, Stewie2K leaving Team Liquid after PGL Major flop
Steven Rondina
Jake “Stewie2K” Yip and Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo are set to depart from Team Liquid. Despite being the undisputed best Counter-Strike team not too long ago, Team Liquid has been sputtering terribly throughout 2021. That came to a head at the PGL Stockholm Major, where the team finished in a shared 12th place after amassing an underwhelming 1-3 record. It’s no surprise that this is resulting in changes for Team Liquid, …
Counter-Strike
Boombl4’s girlfriend answers marriage proposal, but who is she?
William Davis
Natus Vincere’s in-game leader Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhaylov is looking to form a new team with his girlfriend back home. The PGL Stockholm Major had a ton of firsts for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. It was the first CSGO major in two years. It was Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev’s first-ever Valve event victory. It’s also the first time a CSGO player gave a marriage proposal right after winning the biggest tournament in history. …
Counter-Strike
PGL Major final breaks all records with 2.7M peak viewers
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s first major after two years has finally culminated, shattering all viewership records to date. Over 2.7 million viewers tuned to watch the CSGO final on the weekend, according to Esports Charts. The new number on the final game has broken all previous records by a large margin. CSGO’s slump that was kicked in the latter half of 2020 appears to have come to an end. With the …
Counter-Strike
s1mple leads Na’Vi to best CSGO major win ever in Stockholm
William Davis
With first place and $1 million at the Stockholm Major, Natus Vincere is the first Counter-Strike major champion in two years. After years of attempts, s1mple has finally won his first CSGO major. Natus Vincere solidly defeated G2 Esports 2-0 to win the PGL Major Stockholm grand finals. Na’Vi will walk away with the trophy and $1 million, the biggest grand prize in CSGO history. Stockholm is also the first …
Counter-Strike
PGL Stockholm Major semifinals betting picks and analysis
William Davis
What might be the most exciting series in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive history is just two matches away. The Stockholm Major champions stage is the pinnacle of CSGO. The final eight teams have been cut in half. All that’s left is to decide the teams on the podium. The Stockholm Major semifinals features two exciting matchups with $2 million hanging in the balance. Savvy bettors have a chance to bank off …
Counter-Strike
CSGO fans mad about PGL Stockholm Major production issues
William Davis
CSGO fans finally got a massive live event with the PGL Stockholm Major, but it’s been dogged by production troubles throughout. PGL Major Stockholm experienced several audio and production issues during the Challengers Stage. Things got better for the Legends stage, but mutes and delays still hampered the experience. Now in the in-person Champions Stage playoffs, the problems continue to persist. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s first live crowd in years has …
Counter-Strike
Virtus.pro vs. Heroic hits 1 million viewers for PGL Stockholm
Fariha Bhatti
PGL Major Stockholm has joined the list of the five most-watched Counter-Strike: Global Offensive events ever, hitting over one million viewers for a quarterfinals match between Heroic and Virtus.pro. Many factors contributed to PGL Major Stockholm being one of the most significant events in the history of CSGO. While the major was expected to be a massive success, the event is already smashing expectations in the quarterfinals of the playoffs. …
Counter-Strike
Astralis adds k0nfig and blameF, drops Magisk and dupreeh
William Davis
The old Astralis is officially dead. Astralis has officially parted ways with Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen and Emil “Magisk” Reif. The pair have been replaced by Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke and Benjamin “blameF” Bremer. Additionally, coach Danny “zonic” Sørensen has left. Former North strategist Alexander “ave” Holdt will assume the role. This represents a significant changing of the guard for the storied Counter-Strike: Global Offensive squad. Astralis’ roster changes were prompted by …
Valve trolls s1mple over Stockholm Major autograph release date
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Waiting for Stockholm Major autographs? You and s1mple may have to wait even longer. Natus Vincere AWPer Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev has posted direct messages between himself and Valve about the Stockholm Major autograph stickers. In the message, s1mple politely asked the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive account when the stickers would be released. Instead of answering, the account runner fired back with a little trolling. https://twitter.com/s1mpleO/status/1455858994963177473 The release date for Stockholm Major …
CSGO Operation Riptide week seven mission guide
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Operation Riptide’s week seven will have players skulking around bomb sites and flying through the skies. Week seven of Operation Riptide is another chance to grab Riptide stars and advance towards that sweet, sweet, platinum Operation coin. Land, Sea, and Air features two of CSGO’s most popular maps and one of its more niche game modes. As always, players can team up with a friend can team up to earn …
New Dust 2 smoke is helping the T side dominate in Stockholm
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pros have found a solution for those fearful of crossing the catwalk Since Valve updated Dust 2 at the start of Operation Riptide, many players have failed to land their smokes perfectly. The new design calls for new lineups that begin from mid or deeper in the T-side area. Xbox smokes are trickier than ever, but fret not. CSGO pros have everyone covered. During the PGL Stockholm …
Astralis eliminated by Vitality at Stockholm Major Legends
William Davis
Counter-Strike
A serious contender for the Stockholm Major championship just took an early leave. After a tight three map series, Team Vitality has knocked Astralis out of PGL Major Stockholm. Both squads were expected to go deep in the Champions stage, but 1-2 scorelines forced them to meet in the Legends phase. Vitality’s victory was marked by an insane performance from AWPer Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut. The French side still has one …
Fans troll Valve for new rule that limits coaches from cheering
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
A new rule implemented by Valve restricts player-coach communication outside of timeouts, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive community isn’t happy with it. The recent drama surrounding the coach spectating bug has led Valve to toughen its regulations on what goes inside player cabins on LAN events. A new rule restricts coaches from cheering, yelling, or touching players in the middle of all games during PGL Stockholm major. https://twitter.com/zonic/status/1454127950287228941 Astralis’ head coach …
Does CSGO have the most toxic fandom in the world?
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has long been regarded as one of the most toxic communities in all of gaming. That’s still true, but other games have officially caught up. The Anti-Defamation League has published its third annual breakdown of toxicity in online gaming. The study, which debuted in 2019, tracks players’ encounters with negative behavior while gaming, and documents which games they occurred in and what sort of toxic behavior they …
Stockholm Major Legends stage features Na’Vi, NiP, Astralis
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Only 16 teams remain in the fight for the biggest Counter-Strike: Global Offensive prize pool of all time. The Stockholm Major Legends stage is the second proving ground for the event’s record-setting $2 million prize pool. The Challengers stage was full of exciting matches and surprising upsets, and that trend should continue into the next phase of the tournament. The Stockholm Major Legends stage will decide which teams make the …
How to practice your aim when switching from CSGO to Valorant
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Valorant may have game-changing abilities at its center, but aim is crucial to climbing the game’s ranks. We have a few tips for players looking to get better at taking down enemy agents. Riot Games dipped its toes into the first-person shooter genre with Valorant and instantly roped in a large chunk of players from more established shooters. Many Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players found instant success in Valorant, but some …
The best settings and grenade binds for new CSGO players
William Davis
Counter-Strike
In Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the tiniest disadvantage can end a gunfight before it even starts if a player isn’t using anything but the best possible CSGO settings. CSGO has a massive settings menu with hundreds of options to tweak and tune. Some of them are obvious while others are incredibly niche. If you’re a new player looking to spruce up your settings, look no further. This is the guide to …
CSGO caster James Banks’ wife passes away during major
Nicholas James
Counter-Strike
Tactical shooter caster James Banks has announced on Twitter that his wife has passed away while the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Valorant caster is attending PGL Major Stockholm 2021. The cause of death has not yet been disclosed, but Banks has announced his intention to remain at the major despite the news. https://twitter.com/BanKsEsports/status/1453366805624410116?s=20 On October 27, Banks took to Twitter to announce that he had received news of his wife’s …
PGL major breaks opening day records with huge viewership
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
The first day of the biggest Counter-Strike: Global Offensive major ever broke previous viewership records, already becoming one of the most-watched events in CSGO history. Everyone had high expectations from CSGO’s first major in two years, but no one had expected the Challengers’ games to be such a hit. According to Esports Charts, streams from Day 1 hit over 667K viewers, breaking all previous records. CSGO’s player base and popularity …
CSGO Operation Riptide week six mission guide
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Operation Riptide missions are starting to get creative for week six. Week six of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s Operation Riptide is appropriately titled Rumble in the Jungle. For this week, players will once again return to casual and Guardian to earn their coveted stars. The more competitive missions this week involve racking up kill streaks in deathmatch and getting frags with guns you didn’t buy. The first mission for week six …
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.
