Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Fans troll Valve for new rule that limits coaches from cheering
Fariha Bhatti
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 …
Counter-Strike
Does CSGO have the most toxic fandom in the world?
Steven Rondina
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 …
Counter-Strike
Stockholm Major Legends stage features Na’Vi, NiP, Astralis
William Davis
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 …
Counter-Strike
How to practice your aim when switching from CSGO to Valorant
Fariha Bhatti
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 …
CSGO Stockholm Major production is a major problem
William Davis
Counter-Strike
The biggest prize pool in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive history is no guarantee for smooth production. The first day of the Stockholm Major should be remembered for its multiple clutch upsets won over Astralis. But for many fans, the opening round of the Challengers stage was difficult to even watch. The best-of-ones were constantly marked by production issues including audio cuts, sudden delays, and even disconnects. In the most extreme cases, …
How to get PGL Stockholm Major souvenir cases
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
The PGL Stockholm Major is finally upon us, and fans are eager to grab souvenirs for the most critical event in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. CSGO majors have finally returned after a long hiatus, and this brings tons of new content for fans. Unlike the random drops during streams, players must make correct guesses to unlock PGL Major Stockholm content. Players can shop the viewer pass in-game to get a Stockholm …
Astralis fumbles major matches to Entropiq, Copenhagen Flames
William Davis
Counter-Strike
The three-time defending champion is stumbling right out of the gate at Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s biggest event of 2021. Astralis is now 0-2 at the PGL Major Stockholm after the first day of competition. The Danish roster suffered a pair of 6-16 stomps at the hands of Copenhagen Flames and Entropiq. Astralis was a popular pick to dominate the Challengers stage. Now the team is just one loss away from …
Valve says space bar is best jump button in CSGO, but is it?
William Davis
Counter-Strike
The CSGO social media team is sticking to its guns on the default settings. The Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team has revealed its preferred control scheme via social media. Valve started off with relatively normal grenade binds before things took a turn. The official CSGO account revealed it uses mouse wheel up to inspect weapon. Even more importantly, the account runner declared that space bar is the proper way to jump …
CSGO pros are using a new jump bind for EZ grenades
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Jump binds are super useful for throwing grenades in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, but pro players are abusing a Source engine quirk for a new and improved method. Astralis player and Stockholm Major qualifier Lucas “Bubzkji” Andersen revealed his new jump bind through social media. With Bubzkji’s new tech, players can now throw grenades slightly further without giving up any accuracy. To try his grenade bind for yourself, open the developer …
PGL Major Stockholm is equal parts important and dangerous
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Beyond the international LAN play and the $2 million prize pool, the Stockholm Major will determine the future of CSGO esports. As the first Counter-Strike: Global Offensive major in two years, PGL Major Stockholm is Valve’s way of showing its commitment to the game. If the event goes well, it will usher in a new era of LAN. If it goes poorly, it could doom CSGO to another year in …
PGL Major Stockholm opening round betting picks and analysis
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Create your own prize pool for the Stockholm Major with smart picks on Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s best teams. PGL Major Stockholm is a triumphant return to LAN majors for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The 24 best squads in the world are on their way to Sweden where they’ll battle for $2 million in prizes. And they don’t have to be the only ones winning cash from the event. With every top …
Who is Stewie2K? The North American giant seeking a second major
William Davis
Counter-Strike
One of North America’s most decorated Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players has a chance at his second major. Jacky “Stewie2K” Yip is the entry fragger for Team Liquid, the top North American CSGO team competing in Europe. Since his professional debut on Cloud9 in 2016, he has grown into one of NA’s most recognizable players. Stewie2K is most famous for winning the ELEAGUE Boston Major in 2018 as well as a …
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.
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
