Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Steam China missing features, doesn’t transfer player purchases
M Alzamora
Steam China is live but players might be forced to leave their games behind if they want to move from Steam’s global client to Valve’s official Chinese client. It looks like players that move from Valve’s global client to Steam China will be waiting a long time for their games to come with them. The Chinese government will have to approve each game for sale in the country. And only …
Counter-Strike
These are all the ways to mute a player in CSGO
M Alzamora
From muting to filtering, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has a ton of ways for players to decide who gets to talk to them using the game’s many communication tools. These days, many competitive games can be filled with toxicity, but that doesn’t mean players have to just sit there and take it. Here are four easy ways players can mute other users in CSGO. A couple of years ago, players were …
Counter-Strike
CSGO’s Mirage built in Minecraft, chock full of blocky goodness
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s Mirage has been remade in Minecraft by one dedicated fan. Players can’t decide whether they love or hate Mirage, CSGO’s other desert-themed level. It’s been around since CSGO launched in 2012 and has been a part of the competitive map rotation ever since. But even if Valve has decided the map doesn’t need a full rework, a fan of both Minecraft and CSGO decided to take the …
Counter-Strike
shroud blasts “garbage” CSGO experience, praises Valorant
Steven Rondina
Michael “shroud” Grzesiek’s roots are in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive but that doesn’t mean he has any illusions over the state of the game. The former Cloud9 rifler discussed the key differences between Valorant and CSGO in a recent stream. He didn’t mince words either, tearing apart CSGO while praising Riot Games’ efforts in establishing its own tactical shooter. “I’d love to play CSGO if it was fucking good. The beauty …
Counter-Strike
This Mirage mid-window smoke lineup works perfectly every single round
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s map Mirage has dozens of standard utility lineups. However, most players still struggle with middle window smoke. Valve’s antiquated locate Mirage is easily one of the most played maps after Dust II. With its dusty themes, dull colors, and creaky windows, few maps have been able to replace Mirage’s legacy. Despite Valve’s additions of fresh locations, players continue to connect to the old map to relish the …
Counter-Strike
Cache’s new boost molotov can’t be stopped by Terrorists
M Alzamora
Out of all of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s maps, Cache is where players hear the words “boost me” the most. But it works and it’s hard for CTs to do anything about it. Even though Cache hasn’t returned to the competitive pool, players are still finding new grenades to defend the map’s most important area. Finally, a safe CT molotov has been found to bomb boost without revealing the defender. Instead …
Counter-Strike
Astralis planning to open theme park gaming center exhibit
Olivia Richman
Astralis is opening a new facility and it’s in a pretty unexpected location. The Danish esports organization is planning a fun-filled facility in Tivoli Gardens, an amusement park in Copenhagen. Though it’s not an ideal time for theme parks, fans of the top CSGO brand can look forward to this opening in June. The new facility is being described as Astralis’ “first-ever flagship store.” There will be gaming setups for …
Counter-Strike
FaZe Clan’s coldzera claims olofmeister is retiring from CSGO
Fariha Bhatti
FaZe Clan’s in-game leader Marcelo “coldzera” David has revealed that Counter-Strike: Global Offensive veteran Olof “olofmeister” Gustafsson will soon be stepping down from competitive play. FaZe Clan’s CSGO division has recently been in state of flux. Nikola “NiKo“ Kovac’s departure triggered various roster swaps, which have negatively impacted the team performance. olofmeister recently interrupted an extended break from CSGO to fill in for NiKo, but that was not the part …
Esports organization North closes, most players’ fates unknown
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
The joint project of Parken Sport & Entertainment and Nordisk Film North has officially ended. The unexpected announcement will see most of its rosters liquidated. North is the latest esports organization with a focus on Counter-Strike: Global Offensive to undergo serious changes over the last year. The press releases cited financial hurdles as the chief cause behind the exit. Today is a sad day. North Esports is no more. Ty …
Ninjas in Pyjamas stuns Astralis in BLAST Premier Spring opener
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Despite many considering Astralis the favorite in its BLAST Premier Spring group matchup against Ninjas in Pyjamas, NiP stunned fans and defied the odds by putting Astralis away in two maps. They did so while fending off a furious assault by Peter “dupreeh” Rausmussen who tore through the NiP lineup and finished the match with 48 kills. He also posted the server’s highest average damage-per-round, most opening kills, and highest …
poizon back with Complexity, will play at BLAST Premier Spring
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Complexity Gaming has announced that star AWPer Valentin “poizon” Vasilev will return to its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive lineup for the first time since undergoing two surgeries in December 2020. In a tweet from Complexity’s official Twitter account, the organization confirmed his return with an epic frag video. poizon has been absent from Complexity’s roster since December 9 after Complexity revealed that the player was forced to undergo unspecified emergency surgery. …
BLAST ignores Valve’s ruling, allows coaches in Spring Showdown
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
BLAST Entertainment has announced that it will not conform to Valve’s recently announced changes to coaching in Regional Major events. In the wake of the 2020 coaching scandal that saw dozens of coaches suspended by the Esports Integrity Commission for using a bug to gain tactical information on opponents, Valve opted to kick coaches off the server. That put BLAST in an awkward position as it was set to host …
The Source engine may be to blame for CSGO’s infamous crouch bug
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Players first discovered Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s odd crouch bug more than four years ago, but testing suggests that the bug might be even older than CSGO. And that’s bad news for CSGO’s pros and casual players alike. Originally discovered back in 2016, the bug causes a spike in weapon inaccuracy when players transition between a walk and a crouching walk, causing shots to veer off target before suddenly returning to …
These easy Windows registry tweaks can help to speed up CSGO
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive doesn’t always play nicely with Microsoft’s operating system, so here are three Windows tweaks that every player should consider using. Windows 10 comes packaged with some pretty cool software, but CSGO’s aging engine can get bogged down by such features as the Game Bar, Game DVR, and a Windows Update setting that allows the computer to host update files for other systems. So to help players get …
Study shows which color players are best in CSGO matchmaking
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players have long argued over which colors are best and worst in the game’s popular matchmaking. Now, we finally have a definitive answer. CSGO lets players customize almost every part of their experience inside the first-person shooter. After introducing weapons skins to the gaming world with its Arms Deal update, CSGO took the next step with Agent skins in Operation Shattered Web. Players can change their crosshair, …
CSGO scammer may face up to 8 years in prison for virtual theft
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
A Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player is reportedly serving eight years in jail for stealing a CS:GO knife worth $1400. Virtual cosmetics can be expensive whether it’s in Fortnite, Valorant, or CSGO. However, Valve’s shooter has the oldest player base that has figured out various ways to make money through these rare items. CSGO’s matured trading market is one of the players’ earning resources, often crowded with scammers and fraudsters. The …
Virtus.pro puts fnatic away in two at CS Summit 7 grand finals
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
CS Summit 7’s grand final matchup between Virtus.pro and fnatic was close from start to finish, but it was Virtus.pro who walked away with the grand finals win 2-0. The finals started off on Virtus.pro’s Inferno pick, but it wasn’t until the map’s final rounds that the roster managed to lock down the map win. The first half went back and forth as Virtus.pro took four rounds on the attacking …
Kjaerbye speaks out after being benched by FaZe Clan
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
FaZe Clan has benched rifler Markus “kjaerbye” Kjærbye after six months with the organization, with former Team Liquid star Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken set to take his place on FaZe’s international roster moving forward. While the news wasn’t an enormous surprise, the Danish player took his time to react publicly to the news. The now-former FaZe Clan member spoke out on the move for the first time on Twitter: Benched from …
Team Spirit destroy FunPlus Phoenix to win DreamHack Open January
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
DreamHack Open January featured two unlikely teams in its best-of-five grand final, but Team Spirit only needed three maps to put away FunPlus Phoenix for the tournament title. With this year’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive season now well underway, DreamHack Open January was an excellent opportunity for fans to check out some of the game’s lesser-known teams. Team Spirit is a regular competitor in the CIS region and rarely seen in international …
New CSGO framerate-lowering bug fixed by Astralis’ Bubzkji
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
A new bug in Valve’s shooter Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has frustrated competitive players, who are now desperately seeking a viable solution. Astralis rifler Lucas “Bubzkji” Andersen has a temporary fix until Valve comes through with a proper patch. Competitive CSGO players understand the value of high framerates. To get the most out of their PCs, players often play on the lowest settings and sacrifice beauty for function. Tailoring the settings 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.
