Counter-Strike
Esports Betting
IEM Chengdu 2025 betting guide: Schedule, odds, where to bet
Fariha Bhatti
IEM Chengdu 2025 brings together some of the strongest pro Counter-Strike 2 teams in the world, and while predicting its winners is no easy task, our betting guide can help you to make the smartest picks and will give insight on where to place those bets. IEM Chengdu 2025 features 16 top CS2 teams, each having earned its slot through the Valve Regional Standings (VRS). With a hefty $300,000 prize …
Counter-Strike
XYZVerse launches new CS2 League with massive $5.5 million prize
Fariha Bhatti
Crypto project XYZVerse has now announced the CS2 League, a Counter-Strike 2 tournament featuring a massive $5.5 million prize pool comprised of both cash and tokens. Esports and crypto have been steadily converging in recent years, with more brands outside of the traditional gaming spheres investing in titles like CS2 that can overlap with gambling and blockchain communities. XYZVerse is following that trend with its upcoming CS2 League, which could …
Counter-Strike
The biggest esports winners of August 2025
Steven Rondina
While some major esports titles are in their offseason or are in the middle of standard league play, a few hosted their biggest events of the year in August. Similar to July, the Esports World Cup and its enormous prize pools are key when discussing the biggest winners this month. But in terms of prestige and popularity, tournaments like Evo and IEM Cologne dwarf the event. Here are the teams …
Counter-Strike
The biggest winners in esports in June 2025
Steven Rondina
Valorant, Counter-Strike 2, and Call of Duty all had some of their biggest events of 2025, which adds some extra stakes to the biggest esports winners of June 2025. Esports can sometimes be samey. Games like Dota 2 only really have a couple of events each year that matter, making the other 10 months of the year a bit of a treadmill. Sure, money changes hands and esports is inherently …
Counter-Strike
Here’s every possible way to get new cases in CS2
M Alzamora
Skins and cases are among the most notable features of CS2, and here’s how players can get them either in-game or externally. While CS2 skins aren’t essential to playing and enjoying Counter-Strike 2, they do add an extra layer to the game both in terms of pleasant aesthetics and collectible value. Players have two main options for getting weapons skins: directly purchasing them, or opening cases. Those who like to …
Counter-Strike
Team Falcons raids Heroic for trio to round out CS2 roster
M Alzamora
It’s been a bumpy transfer season for Team Falcons, but they may have finally found the rest of their CS2 roster by raiding Heroic. Falcons has seen some major delays in the off-season transfer period. With their eyes set on big stars in the CS2 esports world, they’ve allegedly been doggedly pursuing their desired players to the point that other targeted organizations have begun asking them to just let it …
Counter-Strike
Valve finally lifting CS2 ban on steel after over a decade
M Alzamora
A decade has passed since the iBUYPOWER match-fixing scandal shook the esports world, and Josh “steel” Nissan may finally have had his CS2 ban lifted. Counter-Strike 2 is known for its frequent team shake-ups at the pro level, but it isn’t often that almost an entire roster gets permanently banned from Valve-affiliated competition. In 2015, steel and several other players competing for the iBUYSTEEL team were banned after a massive …
Counter-Strike
Team Vitality to drop Spinx for ropz, but why?
Fariha Bhatti
The alleged troubles within Team Vitality appear to have reached a boiling point, as the French organization has allegedly signed Robin “ropz” Kool for next season while dropping star rifler Lotan “Spinx” Giladi. The CS2 Shanghai Major recently wrapped up in China, which means that roster swaps at the top level are imminent. Vitality seems to be the first team to make waves, reportedly securing a jaw-dropping signing. Despite a …
Do Amouranth and s1mple have beef? The controversy explained
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike professional player Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyljev and Kick streamer Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa are involved in drama on X, and fans wonder why the two are beefing. Despite his prolonged break from the top level of CS2, s1mple remains one of the most iconic players in all of esports. The GOAT of Global Offensive has dabbled with a return thanks to Saudi Arabian organization Team Falcons, but he has yet to …
Who won the diamond coin for CS2 Shanghai Major Pick’ems?
William Davis
Counter-Strike
The CS2 Shanghai Major saw very few people earn the diamond coin from Pick’em challenges. Counter-Strike 2 is one of the most esports-centric games. Along with League of Legends, Dota 2, and Valorant, countless fans worldwide tune in to watch their favorites compete for a chance to win. Valve makes things more entertaining for fans through Pick’em challenges that let them get in on the action. The last three Counter-Strike …
Here’s how to use and create map guides in CS2
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Valve has given CS2 fans a big gift for Christmas 2024 as the developer adds map guide support directly to the Workshop. Counter-Strike 2 may have a fixed roster of weapons and maps, but it remains a constantly developing shooter. While it might seem that having the same utility items for over a decade would lead to repetitive lineups that players could master in a day, the reality is far …
Will m0NESY join Team Falcons? Rumors explained
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
After a relatively long tenure with G2, will Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov make the move to warmer climbs and join up with Team Falcons? Team Falcons is going through a major CS2 roster upheaval in 2024. It traded out the highly ranked Alvaro “SunPayus” Garcia for CS2 GOAT Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyljev back in September before benching nearly the entire team after failing to qualify for Perfect World Shanghai. With a minimal …
The CS2 AK47 just got new inspect animations, take a look
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Valve stepped up the aesthetics of CS2 with new animations to inspect weapons like the AK47. CS2 has been more active than ever with updates in 2024, and many in the community appreciated the effort. Despite these changes, critics of CS2 still feel Valve is prioritizing the wrong things for the game. Recently, the developer introduced new keychain cosmetics, followed by a battle pass in the Armory update. While these …
Yatoto is playing at a CS2 major, here’s why
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Team Spirit Dota 2’s star carry Illya “Yatoro” Mulyarchuk will go from farming creeps to hitting peeks at the CS2 Shanghai Major. The Shanghai Major has been a roaring success, and it will all come to a close in the unexpected grand final between Team Spirit and FaZe Clan. However, before either Finn “karrigan” Andersen or Leonid “chopper” Vishnyakov can lift the trophy, the all-star game must commence. The fan-favorite …
Women’s CS2 is in trouble, and zana explains why
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Women’s leagues in CS2 have taken a major downturn with the loss of several major sponsors, and BIG Equipa’s Ana “Zana” Queiroz has a theory as to why. Women’s Counter-Strike has always been seen as second banana to the main league. Tournaments like those in the ESL Impact Circuit fail to earn the same reach as men’s tier-two events. As a result, multiple women’s CS2 sponsors have exited the scene …
The best loadouts in Counter-Strike 2 for T and CT sides
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Players first jumping into Counter-Strike 2 will have to make the very difficult decision of setting their loadout for games, but which is the best? Counter-Strike: Global Offensive gave players access to every weapon available to their team. While the most obvious gameplay changes in Counter-Strike 2 are the changed maps, missing game modes, and engine change, something that fans will constantly struggle with is having access to just a …
Pick’ems for Shanghai Major playoffs: Get your platinum coin
William Davis
Counter-Strike
The pick’ems for the Shanghai Major playoffs are about to open up, and this is players’ last chance to secure that gorgeous platinum coin. The Shanghai Major has already delivered on storylines. It cemented The MongolZ as a top-tier team in Counter-Strike after a year of rising star status. It also cast major doubt on Natus Vincere, as the reigning champion failed to make it to the final round. However, …
Is the CS2 Shanghai Major crowd ruining the event?
William Davis
Counter-Strike
The Shanghai Major is in full swing, but one CS2 pro is calling out the crowd and observers for potentially affecting the outcome of clutch situations. The Shanghai Major is about to advance to the playoffs, and multiple teams have gone against the odds. The MongolZ has cemented its place as a top-tier squad after a year of success, blasting past the elimination stage 3-0. Meanwhile, reigning champion Natus Vincere …
WIN.gg’s pick’ems for the Shanghai Major group stage
William Davis
Counter-Strike
The Shanghai Major group stage is upon us, and WIN.gg has the best pick’ems to secure another free souvenir package. The play-ins are over, the stage is set, and the main event of the Shanghai Major is about to begin. CS2 players are chomping at the bit to earn their free souvenir packages, and WIN.gg is here to help them upgrade their event coin. With 16 teams left in contention, …
NA CS2 sends Virtus.pro, Cloud9 home from Shanghai Major
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
The 2024 Shanghai Major just saw two of the favorites to win out of the group stage handed a ticket home, with Cloud9 and Virtus.pro both eliminated from the tournament. The opening stage for the Shanghai Major hasn’t gone to plan for Europe and the CIS region. Though Team GamerLegion made it through the stage without much trouble, other teams have flopped. Freddy “KRIMZ” Johansson may have teased his departure …
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.
