Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Valve just banned nine CSGO coaches amid 2021 RMR rules overhaul
M Alzamora
An update from Valve has made drastic changes to its competitive rules for pro teams for 2021 and issued lifetime bans to eight coaches from last fall’s cheating scandal incident that saw 37 pro coaches banned from professional play. Over the latter half of 2020, an extensive investigation by the Esports Integrity Commission revealed that 37 professional coaches had exploited a CSGO spectator bug to gain an unfair advantage, banning …
Counter-Strike
The incredible s1mple stat that no one is talking about
M Alzamora
When the dust settled after the BLAST Global Final, fans had already helped Astralis and Natus Vincere make history. The match holds the record for highest viewer count for a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive match in history. But there was more, as Na`Vi star Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev put up dominant performances that revealed a hidden statistic that is much more impressive than the number of BLAST viewers. Even though s1mple took …
Counter-Strike
EXTREMUM reveals new CSGO roster with BnTeT, 100 Thieves core
Fariha Bhatti
EXTREMUM has finally unveiled its much-speculated Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster featuring the former 100 Thieves core and Hansel “BnTeT” Ferdinand. The Russian organization has announced its return to CSGO esports with the oceanic trio alongside Joakim “jkaem” Myrbostad and BnTeT. The new setup reunites the former 100 Thieves stars with Aleksandar “kassad” Trifunović as the team coach. We are ready to show you another way – #OURWAY pic.twitter.com/te0VtZnKVd — EXTREMUM …
Counter-Strike
Ninjas in Pyjamas unveils new logo, complete brand overaul
M Alzamora
Esports organization Ninjas in Pyjamas announced a complete rebrand on January 25, replacing its longstanding black, gold, and white shuriken with a symbol that takes its shape from “ancient Japanese emblems and Katakana,” according to an official press release from the organization. In a statement on the rebrand, Ninjas in Pyjamas CEO Hicham Chahine stressed the importance of widening the organization’s ability to connect with its audience. “Ninjas fight as …
FunPlus Phoenix confirms CSGO return with signing of GODSENT
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Just under a month after FunPlus Phoenix announced that it had agreed to a deal in principle with GODSENT’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster, the organization officially signed Asger “Farlig” Jensen, Pavle “Maden” Bošković, Jesse “zehN” Linjala, Martin “STYKO” Styk, to be the new core of its CSGO squad. On December 28, FunPlus Phoenix revealed that it had struck a deal with GODSENT management to acquire the four players pending individual …
Natus Vincere draws massive viewership in BLAST Global Finals
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
The BLAST Global Finals put up the highest viewership numbers for a Counter-Strike tournament since ESL Pro League Season 11. Between the tournament’s official broadcast and its partner streams, the tournament’s finals peaked at 687,000 concurrent viewers according to ESCharts. The tournament featured two of the world’s top CSGO teams in Astralis and Natus Vincere. Astralis was heavily favored heading into the tournament’s grand finals, making its 2-0 loss to …
Na’Vi demolishes Astralis, wins BLAST Premier Global Finals
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
The BLAST Premier’s Global Finals concluded with two of the world’s top teams in a showdown to determine the first Counter-Strike champion to be crowned in 2021. Astralis and Natus Vincere were set for an epic showdown, but that’s not really what ended up happening. Although the matchup looked like it would be competitive, Na`Vi took an early lead on Nuke and denied Astralis an Inferno comeback to grab the …
Team Vitality issued $10,000 fine for stream-sniping during BLAST Premier
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
The Esports Integrity Commission has fined Team Vitality $10,000 due to the recent BLAST Premier Global Final controversy. The French roster managed to send Team Liquid to the lower bracket in a smooth 2-0 fashion. However, a mistake on Team Vitality’s part earned them a fine of $10,000. ESIC issues $10,000 fine to team Vitality in response to stream-sniping breach of the ESIC Code. While there was no malicious intention …
ESIC has just banned 35 CSGO pro players for match fixing
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
Match-fixing continues to be a problem in the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro scene. The Esports Integrity Commission has confirmed 35 bans after conducting investigations into breaches of the Anti-Corruption Code in CSGO competitions. This was a two-year process of investigating match-fixing in Australia, Europe, and the United States. ESIC found that the CSGO players in question had bet on their own matches or bet against their own team in ESIC …
Device registers a historic Deagle clutch in BLAST Premier Final
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Nicolai “device” Reedtz is generally known for his daring AWP plays. However, his recent showing at BLAST Premier Global Final proves that he can clutch a win with any weapon he’s handed. Unbeatable throughout the BLAST Premier Global Final, Astralis locked horns with Team Vitality in the upper bracket finals. While fans had expected a tight-knit fight, device’s Deagle clutch was extraordinary. After consecutive round losses, Astralis was dealing with …
mousesports drops chrisJ after 7 years, acoR joins from MAD Lions
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
mousesports has confirmed the signing of new AWPer Frederik “acoR” Gyldstrand to its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster. The German organization has finally revealed the new addition to its CSGO division ahead of cs_summit 7. With akoR joining the squad, Chris “chrisJ” de Jong will be emptying his slot to make space for the new recruit. Please welcome @acoRCS to mouz CS:GO Frederik will strengthen our roster with immediate effect and …
ENCE announces new CSGO roster and staff after drama
Nicholas James
Counter-Strike
In the wake of all of the drama surrounding ENCE, its previous Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster, and AWP specialist Aleksi “allu” Jalli, the organization has announced some big changes for the 2021 season. The team is retaining allu’s services as a player despite his alleged treatment of former players and the drama that followed on social media in the last few months of 2020. “The events in December put us …
Did Vitality break ESIC stream rules at BLAST Premier finals?
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Just two months after the Esports Integrity Commission gave top Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams a pass for reported widespread stream sniping, a clip from the BLAST Premier Global Finals show that Team Vitality aired the tournament’s live stream within just a few feet of its players during the team’s matchup against Team Liquid on January 21. A post on CSGO’s subreddit showed a television displaying Vitality’s match against Liquid in …
Twistzz in talks with FaZe Clan after leaving Team Liquid
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Former Team Liquid star Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken is gearing up for the next chapter in his Counter-Strike: Global career. Reports suggest that the player is in negotiations to join Marcelo “coldzera” David on FaZe Clan. The Canadian player has been out of the spotlight for quite a while now. However, a report by DBLTAP claims that he may be coming back to the servers in a FaZe Clan jersey. …
GODSENT confirms signing TACO, felps for new Brazilian lineup
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
GODSENT has officially revealed its overhauled Counter-Strike: Global Offensive lineup, featuring a lineup of Brazilian veterans. The Swedish organization has finally confirmed the signing of a Brazilian roster led by some of South America’s top stars. Managed by Ricardo “dead” Sinigaglia, the team reunites Epitácio “TACO” de Melo and João “felps” Vasconcellos under the GODSENT umbrella. The roster was previously leaked by GODSENT in a job application. Switching from its …
Astralis still tops CSGO team rankings, Gambit breaks through
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
While most professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams took time to relax over the game’s winter player break, Gambit continued to showcase dominant performances as it played through the holidays. The top half of this week’s CSGO rankings haven’t changed all that much since the conclusion of the IEM Global Challenge last December, but Gambit’s continued presence on the list in the number four spot is something that fans shouldn’t ignore. …
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
