Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Fnatic removes JW from active roster, is going international
Jared Wynne
Jesper “JW” Wecksell, the long-standing member and primary AWPer for Fnatic, has been removed from the team’s active roster. The three-time major winner and former major MVP became one of the most notable names at the professional level of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive while spending the majority of his career to date with Fnatic. Entering the pro scene in 2013, JW signed with Fnatic and in the same year won a …
Counter-Strike
IEM Cologne 2021 had more viewers than people playing CSGO
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s first LAN final after more than 500 days was an undeniable success, as broadcasts pulled in more viewers than the active concurrent player count for CSGO. CSGO saw a significant decline in popularity after most major events were shelved in 2020. However, the first LAN event since managed to wake up loyal fans from their slumber as the IEM Cologne 2021 grand final peaked at more than …
Counter-Strike
s1mple leads Natus Vincere to IEM Cologne 2021 championship
William Davis
Russian squad Natus Vincere has won IEM Cologne 2021, the first CSGO LAN championship since 2020. The feat yields the team $400,000 in prize money. Na’Vi cruised through the group stage at the expense of Renegades, Team Vitality, and Astralis. Each match was a 2-1, but Na’Vi dominated the third map each time. The playoffs went even smoother. FaZe Clan couldn’t take a map off Na`Vi in the semifinals, and …
Counter-Strike
shroud eyes CSGO streaming return with IEM Cologne co-stream
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s first LAN tournament in more than 16 months is well underway. While fans can barely contain their excitement, it seems that Michael “shroud” Grzesiek is just as ecstatic about IEM Cologne 2021. Popular Twitch streamer and former CSGO pro shroud is mainly known for his top-notch Valorant streams these days, and is enjoying serious success with that. But a recent tweet hints that the streamer wants to …
Counter-Strike
Strange CSGO bug makes players’ heads disappear during games
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has a weird and hilarious bug at the moment involving disappearing heads. CSGO players have noticed a fairly obvious issue in public matchmaking games in which players’ heads are disappearing at random. Once they’re gone, they remain gone for the duration of the game, even lingering into the post-game screen. One Reddit user showed off how it looked in one of their recent games, drawing laughter from …
Counter-Strike
IEM Cologne playoffs betting analysis and match winner picks
William Davis
Only six teams remain in the fight for CSGO’s first LAN championship since 2020 at the IEM Cologne playoffs. After an exciting play-in and group stage, 24 of the world’s best CSGO teams have been whittled down to just six. Group stage winners G2 Esports and Natus Vincere earned express tickets to the semifinals. The second and third-place teams start the single-elimination bracket from the quarterfinals. These IEM Cologne playoffs …
Counter-Strike
PGL says CSGO Major might not take place in Sweden
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s first major since 2019 may not be held in Sweden, just like Dota 2’s showpiece event, The International 10. In an email to SportExpressen, the CEO of PGL has revealed that the major CSGO event is encountering similar difficulties as Dota’s TI10, which may lead to a change of location. “There is no new development; we can decide any day now to move it from Sweden. We …
Counter-Strike
FaZe Clan surge past Heroic for spot in IEM Cologne playoffs
William Davis
Unexpected victories over Complexity, Team Spirit, and Team Vitality have landed FaZe Clan a spot in the IEM Cologne playoffs. FaZe Clan’s CSGO division has secured a top-six finish at IEM Cologne after a dominant play-in round and multiple group stage upsets. The return to offline play could be a major boon to the star-studded roster. FaZe will take on Gambit Esports in the first round of IEM Cologne’s $1,000,000 …
Ninjas in Pyjamas set to merge with Ultra Prime parent company
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Reports are circulating that major changes have come to one of esports’ most enduring organizations. Reuters is reporting that Ninjas in Pyjamas and ESV5 have merged together via equity swap, with the intent of the new business entity being to find space listed on NASDAQ. If true, this organization would become the first publicly traded esports organization in the United States. Other esports organizations are publicly traded abroad, with the …
This Steam user has been VAC banned 42 times and counting
William Davis
Counter-Strike
The most-banned account on Stream has 42 Valve Anti-Cheat bans and 30 game bans, and it’s not stopping there. VAC_MAN is a Steam account dedicated to being banned from as many games as possible. It is the most-banned account on Steam according to VAC Ladder and leads by a margin of 11 bans. The Steam platform does not limit cheaters’ access to new games. The most-banned account on Steam is …
CSGO cheating service hacked, source code and user info leaked
William Davis
Counter-Strike
A popular cheating program for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was compromised by a mysterious individual hacker who then leaked user info online. The affected program is a private branch of the infamous Skeet.cc cheating program. The user information is being distributed through a hacking forum and allegedly includes the information of more than 200 CSGO cheaters. The branch of Skeet that was hacked was being distributed through the website gamesense.pw. The …
Shroud wants to see CSGO map Mirage in Valorant
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s iconic map Mirage is still popular among the playerbase and Twitch streamer Michael “shroud” Grzesiek thinks that it’ll do just as well in Valorant. A few maps in CSGO are popular among the fans for their extensive history and sentimental value, and Mirage has managed to become of the most played maps in professional games. That’s why shroud thinks it’ll be a hit in Valorant. In a …
What is CSGO surfing? How this glitch turned into a mini-game
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Surfing is a unique feature of the Source engine that lets players quickly gain speed when hugging steep angles. What started as a glitch has become the most popular custom game modes in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and other Source titles. Surfing has become an iconic CSGO custom game for its difficult, yet strangely calming challenge. Surfing has its roots in the original Half-Life’s Goldsource engine. Since Half-Life served as the …
IEM Cologne 2021 group stage best bets and betting analysis
William Davis
Counter-Strike
The main event of IEM Cologne is upon us. The eight teams from play-ins will match up against the eight directly invited teams on LAN for $1,000,000 in prizes. CSGO teams from across the globe are under pressure at IEM Cologne 2021. The historic city is hosting the first offline CSGO event since early 2020. Only eight play-in teams have emerged into the group stage. They now face an even …
Valve adds fair play guidelines to fight CSGO matchmaking hackers
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Players have been complaining about blatant hackers running rampant in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s matchmaking queue. Instead of coming up with a more severe punishment for these cheaters, Valve has rolled out new “fair play guidelines” in a recent patch update. The cheating problem in CSGO isn’t a new thing. Players have long been bugging the developer to wipe out the game’s hackers, and it seems that Valve has finally listened. …
The reasons why CSGO is so popular
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive remains one of the most popular global esports games as it nears its 10th anniversary next year. It was a successful competitive title right from the start and it hasn’t seemed to slow down despite newer games competing for the FPS crown. Is it because of its fanbase and gaming community? Or is it the million-dollar tournaments or the ease of playing it? To shed more light, …
Betting analysis for the best play-in games at IEM Cologne 2021
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Cologne is a landmark city in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive history, and Intel Extreme Masters is one of the most prestigious circuits in the game. IEM Cologne marks a return to LAN play, something CSGO has sorely missed since early 2020. Offline play in a historic city for a $1,000,000 prize purse makes IEM Cologne the must-watch CSGO event of the summer. Eight teams have already secured a group stage berth. …
Heroic coach Hunden is missing from official IEM Cologne lineup
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Heroic’s coach Nicolai “HUNDEN” Petersen will be missing the seventh iteration of IEM Cologne, the first international LAN event for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Heroic is one of the top eights teams directly qualifying for IEM Cologne, and the organization has made some significant changes in the leadership roles ahead of the event. The team has revealed its backroom staff for IEM Cologne, and Hunden’s name didn’t make the list. Heroic …
All of the correct callouts for the newest CSGO map, Ancient
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Many players are still not entirely familiar with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s dark and leafy competitive map Ancient. Learning the proper callouts for this new map might help you climb the ranks faster. Not understanding the map may hinder your ranked progress. Callouts are a basic and instrumental part of any shooter game as they help bolster team play and communication. It’s incredibly crucial that you keep your mic active to …
zonic may leave Astralis and take multiple players with him
William Davis
Counter-Strike
After more than five years as the Astralis head coach, Danny “zonic” Sørensen might be looking at new options after his contract expires at the end of this year According to a recent report by HLTV, the Danish head coach might be looking to leave the organization at the end of the year. If the reports are true, the legendary team would lose the head coach who has played 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.
