Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
CSGO player count stabilizing after 6 months of drop
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s dramatic decline in players throughout 2021 has drawn to a close after six consecutive months, new stats show. Valve’s shooter seems to be on the mend after losing 16% of its player base in June 2021, recording the most lasting drop since the game’s release in 2012. However, Steamcharts shows that CSGO is restoring form as the game sees its first boost in six months. According to …
Counter-Strike
The teams competing for $425K at BLAST Premier Fall Finals
William Davis
The stage is finally set for the BLAST Premier: Fall Finals, but there’s still some surprises left in store. With the conclusion of Fall Groups, the teams competing in BLAST Premier Fall Finals are mostly decided. The $425,000 tournament will feature the absolute top teams in Counter-Strike Global Offensive on LAN. All of the competitors earned their spot through Fall Groups, and two more are on their way form the …
Counter-Strike
This new CSGO skin is based on a real-life counter-terrorist
William Davis
Operation Riptide reminds players that conflicts aren’t exclusive to video games. A new Counter-Strike: Global Offensive agent skin appears to be a tribute to a real French counter-terrorist. The new exceptional agents collection includes Officer Jacques Beltram, a CT skin meant to represent the French gendarmerie. His name, story, and appearance all point to real-life gendarme Arnaud Beltrame, who traded himself for a hostage during a 2018 terrorist attack in …
Counter-Strike
seized reveals Trident Clan owes salaries to entire CSGO team
Olivia Richman
Esports organization Trident Clan apparently owes its former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team around $35,000. Former Trident Clan player Denis “seized” Kostin told Dexerto that Trident Clan owes him and his former teammates money, including $7,000 owed to seized personally. He first revealed that Trident Clan owed the money on September 8, explaining that the organization had stopped paying all of the team’s salaries in May 2021. At the time, seized …
Counter-Strike
Here are the numbers behind the huge M4A1-S buff, Deagle nerf
William Davis
M4A1-S fans and Deagle diehards are definitely going to remember the 21st night of September. Operation Riptide came with a small but impactful balance adjustment for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. In traditional Valve fashion, the official announcement only listed the affected guns without any specific details. If you’re looking for the new damage values on the M4A1-S and Desert Eagle, read on to learn exact numbers. The silenced CT rifle has …
Counter-Strike
Here’s every Operation Riptide skin and how to get them
William Davis
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s skin catalog just got a whole lot bigger. As part of Operation Riptide, Valve has introduced new skin lines for Train, Mirage, Dust 2, and Vertigo. Each map in CSGO has a signature skin line associated with it. Valve has decided to introduce a new batch for the four maps, adding a total of 74 new map skins to the game. Players do not earn these skins …
Counter-Strike
Operation Riptide arrives in CSGO with Deagle nerf, Dust 2 changes
Steven Rondina
After multiple teases, the new Counter-Strike: Global Offensive operation has finally arrived. Operation Riptide is now live, and while it launched in the middle of an extended Steam outage, CSGO fans were excited to have something new to sink their teeth into. The event looks, feels, and functions very similarly to 2020’s Operation Broken Fang, but has much more to offer. Operation Riptide doesn’t contain anything related to an official …
Counter-Strike
BLAST Premier: Fall Group C betting picks and analysis
William Davis
The next BLAST Premier event is too exciting for just one tournament. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams from across Europe have assembled to compete for $150,000 and tickets to the $425,000 BLAST Premier Fall Finals in November. With two top-tier teams and a pair of rising stars involved, Group C will be the most exciting preliminary group yet. You can cash in on the action with some well-placed bets on Blast …
Dust 2, Inferno, and Ancient could see some big changes soon
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Something big is brewing in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and four of the most popular maps in the game are at the center of it. On September 19, Valve added compatibility versions of eight maps to the official CSGO Workshop page. Compatibility versions of maps are made publicly available to ensure older replays work in the current CSGO client after changes are made to maps. While the likes of Mocha, Pitstop, …
Should Dust 2 get removed from the CSGO map pool?
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s legendary map Dust 2 has once again landed into the spotlight after professional players pointed out the flaws in its off-meta design. The map has been a part of all major Counter-Strike titles since 2001, becoming an iconic location both in casual and pro games. After being removed from active duty for over a year, the map returned as Dust New featuring much-needed graphical changes in 2017. …
All of the correct CSGO callouts for Cache
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Callouts are critical on any Counter-Strike: Global Offensive map, and knowing how to coordinate on Cache is critically important. In theory, Cache is the most straightforward map there is in CSGO. It has two sites with a mid area that both sides have an equal shot at controlling. If the Ts can control mid, they get extra options for attacking the sites. The CT side can use mid control to …
PGL confirms the next CSGO Major will be held in Stockholm
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s biggest tournament in history has finally been confirmed for Stockholm, Sweden. After months of uncertainty, things are finally falling into place for CSGO. PGL has confirmed that the 2021 CSGO major will take place in the home of Counter-Strike, Sweden. “With all indoor restrictions lifted, Avicii Arena is ready to be packed with fans again, for the first time in the last 15 months,” the PGL announces …
Is dying in CSGO ever a good thing? Yes, and here’s why
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
While it might sound strange, intentionally dying in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive can be advantageous sometimes. There are many different no-win scenarios that will come up in a match of CSGO, whether it involves stalling for time around the bomb or running into a one-on-five scenario in the last round of the half. Depending on the situation, choosing to die in a specific way might be better than letting the time …
MSL’s Danish CSGO roster South disbands after just weeks
William Davis
Counter-Strike
A promising Danish roster led by MSL has dissolved after just six tournament runs. Unsponsored Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team South has announced its dissolution just three weeks after forming. The announced lineup included experienced names like Mathias “MSL” Lauridsen, Philip “aizy” Aistrup Larsen, and Jakob “JUGi” Hansen. The team was met with some initial hype but failed to secure invites to several key events. From its first qualifier attempt to …
CSGO social media hints at Surf operation, then deletes it
William Davis
Counter-Strike
The chances of a surfing-themed CSGO operation grow by the day. The official social media team for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive posted and then deleted a brief announcement late on September 13. The message contained an emoji of a large wave as its only character. This coy message could be another hint towards an upcoming surf-themed operation for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Fans managed to grab screenshots of the post before it …
Mirage hell clipping glitch gets pro player killed in tournament
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
A long-standing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive bug marred a professional match for Heroic, costing Martin “stavn” Lund his life in the middle of an intense round. Visual bugs may not always have as much impact, but in high-stake pro matches, even a minor glitch can cost a team the title. In the semifinal match of ESL Pro League Season 14 against Natus Vincere, Heroic’s stavn was on the receiving end of …
s1mple and Natus Vincere win $1 million Intel Grand Slam
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev and Natus Vincere have already been on a tear for a long while now, but the team is quickly approaching a level of dominance in Counter-Strike esports that has some calling this the Na`Vi era. Na`Vi has taken first place in ESL Pro League Season 14, taking home a $195,000 check for its efforts. This adds onto what was already an electrifying 18-month stretch for the popular …
Alleged cheating has s1mple blasting Heroic at ESL Pro League
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev is busy playing at ESL Pro League Season 14 but he still found the time to take a swipe at a team embroiled in a cheating scandal. Natus Vincere and Heroic had an extremely close match in the ESL Pro League Season 14 semifinals. After a narrow Na’Vi victory, the analyst desk asked s1mple if he had any thoughts on his opponents. While he complimented their skills …
Team Vitality vs Natus Vincere ESL Pro League betting analysis
William Davis
Counter-Strike
A best-of-five series between Team Vitality and Natus Vincere at ESL Pro League could be just as lucrative as it will be exciting. Every match of ESL Pro League Season 14 has led to this final best-of-five series. Team Vitality clawed past several podium contenders for a shot at the $175,000 first-place prize. Natus Vincere bulldozed over its foes with grace in pursuit of the Intel Grand Slam. This match …
This OP molotov trick guarantees T-side wins on Dust 2
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
There’s one way to basically guarantee that planted bombs will detonate on Dust 2’s A bombsite. One of the most common scenarios on Dust 2 is that terrorists take the A bombsite, plant the bomb in the elevated corner of the site overlooking long, and then set a man up in pit to ensure the bomb isn’t defused. Playing in pit with the bomb planted in the right spot is …
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.
