Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Heroic coach Hunden is missing from official IEM Cologne lineup
Fariha Bhatti
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 …
Counter-Strike
All of the correct callouts for the newest CSGO map, Ancient
Fariha Bhatti
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 …
Counter-Strike
zonic may leave Astralis and take multiple players with him
William Davis
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
The CSGO player count is dramatically declining in 2021
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has lost a large chunk of its player base in the second quarter of 2021, according to Steam Charts. CSGO’s future has been up in the air since the release of rival tactical shooter Valorant, but the game managed to keep steady for several months after. That’s changed since May, with the game experiencing one of its sharpest declines in active players in years, dropping more than …
This is why the Dual Berettas are still the worst weapon in CSGO
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is a fairly serious tactical shooter, so it’s no surprise that the game’s akimbo pistols are the worst weapon in the tactical title. All of CSGO’s sidearms have clear strengths and weaknesses. The Desert Eagle can kill in a single hit, but has massive recoil. The TEC-9 is the king of run-and-gun, but struggles to connect at range. The Dual Berettas’ biggest upside is its double magazine, …
Team Spirit’s run to playoffs at StarLadder RMR is miraculous
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Four consecutive comebacks in the group stage have landed Team Spirit a spot in the StarLadder CIS RMR playoffs. As the #1 Regional Major Rankings team in the CIS region, Team Spirit was expected to dominate their group stage on the way to a playoff berth. Spirit’s final scoreline of 4-0 lines up with the prediction, but the team’s group stage run was anything but clean. Team Spirit lost the …
j3kie and SENSEi leave Akuma after bombing out of StarLadder RMR
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Evgeniyy “j3kie” Sergachev and Dmitriy “SENSEi” Shvorak have both removed themselves from Akuma’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster after a disappointing result at the StarLadder Regional Major Rankings event. j3kie revealed the news with a social media post of his stream and a message that roughly translates to “Stream. I am searching for a new team.” SENSEi removed any mention of Akuma from his personal profiles. While not official statements, both …
Former Astralis, FaZe Clan player Kjaerbye retires from CSGO
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Danish Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro player Markus “Kjaerbye” Kjærbyehas announced his retirement from the game, citing a lack of “hunger to compete” as the primary reason. He announced the news suddenly on Twitter: Thank you CS ???? for all the opportunities & memories you have given me! pic.twitter.com/nFdpT4LqMp — KJAERBYE (@KjaerbyeCS) June 30, 2021 Kjaerbye is a familiar face for CSGO esports fans with Kjaerbye’s heyday coming as he helped …
Improve your CSGO arsenal with these skins that cost under $5
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive skins can cost hundreds of thousands, but you don’t need to break the bank to start a nice collection. There are plenty of eye-catching skins that sell for under $5 on the Steam Marketplace. Here are some of the best options for anyone looking to jazz up their arsenal for an affordable price. The Baroque Purple is an oft-overlooked AK-47 skin, so the price is still very …
NBK leaving CSGO for Valorant, seemingly departs from OG
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
French Counter-Strike: Global Offensive maestro Nathan “NBK-” Schmitt has announced his official switch to Riot Games’ tactical shooter, Valorant. NBK has finally made the big switch after spending almost three months as the frontman of DBL Poney. In a surprise video announcement, the professional player has confirmed that his time in CSGO has finally come to an end. “I lived the big disappointments and the best tournament wins. Counter–Strike gave me …
XANTARES banned on Twitch following $600,000 charity stream
William Davis
Counter-Strike
BIG rifler İsmailсan “XANTARES” Dörtkardeş has been banned from Twitch for unknown reasons. This marks XANTARES’ second Twitch ban in 2021, with his first one coming in April. The exact cause of the ban has yet to be publicly announced and likely will not be. According to his social media, even XANTARES himself doesn’t know what breached Twitch’s rules. The announcement comes just after BIG earned a $600,000 donation for …
Here’s how to avoid fake VAC bans and knife unboxings in CSGO
William Davis
Counter-Strike
CSGO players have discovered a way to disguise their chat messages as game system and admin announcements. The issue stems from CSGO’s font system, where phrases are assigned a color based on an initial ASCII code. This system allows users to alter their own messages’ color and appearance. Alternate colors are usually reserved for system messages, so players who don’t know about this exploit could be easily fooled. Devious users …
The CSGO case odds from Anomaly’s 24-hour opening stream
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Every Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player dreams of opening a knife. But what are the actual odds of getting such a coveted cosmetic? YouTube and Twitch star Anomaly may have found the answer. He conducted a 24-hour CSGO case unboxing stream in partnership with third-party trading site Skinbaron. Anomaly bought $10,000 worth of CSGO keys and unboxed 4,000 cases in just over 20 hours. That stream is one of the cleanest …
FaZe Clan shows off new execute for Mirage against Furia Esports
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
A fun clip from a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive match proves that learning never stops, even for a legend like Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer Gustafsson. During a match against Team Furia in the Gamers Without Borders Cup, the camera spotted an interesting interaction between FaZe Clan’s Håvard “rain” Nygaard and olofmeister. Both players hung out in the terrorist base, trying out a new lineup for connector smoke. Many players rely heavily on …
CSGO streamer Anomaly accidentally reveals face during stream
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Anomaly is best known for opening CSGO knives, freaking out about them, and staying completely anonymous the entire time. That last bit flew out the window during his most recent stream. The YouTube and Twitch star planned for a massive live stream where he would open over 4,000 CSGO cases in one 24-hour sitting. The stream is part of a sponsorship deal with CSGO skin trading website Skinbaron. However, a …
The most expensive CSGO skin went through at $780K
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
While some players wait for steam sale throughout the year to update their cheap pistols, a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player has bought two of the most expensive skins for a whopping $780.000. For the layman, it may be hard to believe that someone would squander $780K on a virtual cosmetic to bolster a weapon. However, CSGO players have seen many similar jaw-dropping transactions between elite players who could afford rare …
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
