Counter-Strike
News
MIBR loses its last two players as trk and kNgV step down
Fariha Bhatti
MIBR’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player evacuation has come to an end, as the final two players, Vito “kNgV-” Giuseppe and Alencar “trk” Rossato, have moved to the bench. kNgV announced his departure from the team’s active roster in a TwitLonger in which he renounced financial issues to be the reason behind his exit. The player clarified that the organisation’s lack of communication has caused him to give up on the …
Counter-Strike
flusha steps down from Fnatic after rumors of forming new team
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive veteran Robin “flusha” Rönnquist has removed himself from the roster of Fnatic, the organization announced today. Fnatic announced that the rifler had moved to the team’s inactive list in a post on the organization’s website along with a tweet announcing the news. Soon after, flusha confirmed the news and revealed that he had chosen to step down and explore other options in competitive CSGO. Fnatic CS:GO — Roster …
Counter-Strike
FURIA benches HEN1 as he seeks to play with brother LUCAS1
Fariha Bhatti
FURIA has moved Henrique “HEN1” Teles to its bench at the player’s request. The announcement results from the AWPer’s wish to compete alongside his brother, Lucas “LUCAS1” Teles, who’s currently a free agent. Following a request made by HEN1, the player will now be free to seek for new options alongside his brother and will remain on the bench while this process lasts.Read more: https://t.co/eL4fDe0VAf — FURIA (@FURIA) January 8, …
Counter-Strike
Valve removes weapon pings and bots in competitive CSGO update
M Alzamora
While Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s January 7 update may have been”small” in Valve’s words, the developer included a massive change to how CSGO’s classic competitive five-versus-five and two-versus-two wingman modes work in CSGO and fixed a major game bug. And some players are very angry about it. Valve has decided to remove the replacement bots that spawn when a player disconnects from CSGO’s competitive and wingman modes. After the patch, bots …
Counter-Strike
Map creators tease the debut of Tuscan’s new CSGO version
Fariha Bhatti
Map developers Catfood and Brute have revealed a glimpse of classic Counter-Strike map Tuscan remade for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The map trailer has thrilled the fans as its addition has been a hot topic among players for years. Catfood released a short preview of the classic map that is still under construction. The trailer gave a peek inside the location that ruled the Counter-Strike 1.6 arena for many years. While …
Counter-Strike
Signed Cloud9 jersey survives fire that burns everything else
Fariha Bhatti
Fire swallows everything, and that’s precisely what happened when a furnace blew in a Cloud9 fan’s home. His apartment burned to ashes, but his signed Cloud9 jersey somehow escaped the havoc. Cloud9 has a loyal fanbase across the different games and divisions they field rosters in. But this fan of Cloud9’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team has stunned everyone after retrieving a slightly marred jersey from fire wreckage. Redditor Dacvid posted …
Counter-Strike
cogu exits MIBR, says he has a six-man roster ready
Fariha Bhatti
MIBR will see its coach and manager bid farewell to Raphael “cogu” Camargo. With cogu’s exit, MIBR is left with no coach and only two active players on its payroll. cogu assumed MIBR’s coach office in October when the organization was going through various adjustments. The Brazillian organization acquired cogu following the coaching controversy that saw Ricardo “dead” Sinigaglia suspended from the team. The coach had a new roster on …
Counter-Strike
Everything you need to know about changing FOV in CSGO
M Alzamora
While most games have a field-of-view slider in the options menu, Counter-Strike Global Offensive takes a little more work for players to fiddle with its FOV. Modern first-person shooters typically let players change their field of view, but CSGO works a little differently. The game’s FOV is actually locked at 90 degrees, which is standard for most shooters, but there is a way to change CSGO’s player model FOV, which …
This is how to complete all of CSGO’s Steam achievements
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has four achievements that are impossible to get unless players know this handy trick. CSGO has a massive 167 different achievements for players to chase. Some ask little of players, like winning ten rounds for “Newb World Order.” Others can require 1,000 hours to complete, like inflicting 1,000,000 points of damage for the game’s famous “A Million Points of Blight.” That said, even those can be accomplished …
Reports say Cloud9 close to signing Xeppaa and coach Elmapuddy
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Several reports have claimed that Cloud9 is all but set to acquire Erick “Xeppaa” Bach to its active roster, while the discussions to sign Chris “Elmapuddy” Tebbit as the head coach are also underway. The reports of Xeppaa joining HenryG’s colossus first came from 1pvr. According to the website’s sources, the deal has nearly been sealed and the player will soon join the North American organization. If the move comes …
Here’s how to turn on Steam Guard and save your Steam account
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Using Steam Guard will protect your games, inventory, and Steam Wallet. Here’s why you should use it and the simple steps you need to follow to turn it on.Steam Guard is Valve’s version of a security feature known as two-factor authentication, a security feature that is all about keeping an account safe by asking for a randomly generated code after a user puts in their password. This extra step adds …
CSGO tops Among Us, wins Steam Awards’ “Labor of Love” award
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Valve’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive won a prize in the 2020 Steam Awards. The game has been dubbed the 2020 “Labor of Love” winner. CSGO was nominated in the category of “Labor of Love” alongside a mix of ongoing titles including Among Us, Terraria, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and No Man’s Sky. While other games in the category had the advantage of being fresh and popular among the audience, CSGO’s …
s1mple admits to sharing a VAC-banned account with friend
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive star Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev tweeted out that he unknowingly logged into a VAC-banned account when trying to play with friends. When trying to play CSGO’s matchmaking with his friends, Natus Vincere’s s1mple ran into a problem. Being a pro, all of his Steam accounts happen to be very highly ranked CSGO limits the difference between the ranks of players in a party so that highly-skilled players can’t …
How to use CSGO footstep sounds to win more of your games
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s best players are more than just good aimers. While both esports pros and talented casual players understand CSGO inside and out, the game often comes down the smallest noises that decide the winners. CSGO is full of sounds. For new players, sound is usually one of the last things they think about. Between trying to master the game’s complicated movement mechanics and spray patterns, it’s easy to …
oBo announces comeback desire, open to NA and EU team offers
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Benched Complexity rifler Owen “oBo” Schlatter announced that he was open to offers in both North America and Europe just months after leaving his former team with little warning and even fewer options. A tweet from oBo’s official Twitter account told any interested teams to contact Complexity and its CEO, Jason Lake, to discuss options for a transfer. On September 22, oBo suddenly boarded a plane back to the United …
Everything to know about Operation Broken Fang’s new agents
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
With Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s Broken Fang content, Valve has continued to add new agents for players to use in its first-person shooter. Valve first unveiled the option to customize characters in 2019’s Shattered Web Operation. That first content pack included 10 CT and 12 T models for players to choose from with agents like the classified rarity The Elite Mr. Muhlik and Special Agent Eva were popular, and Eva marked …
kassad reportedly set to join former 100 Thieves at Extremum
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Cloud9’s former coach Aleksandar “kassad” Trifunović is set to join Russian esports organization Extremum, according to a report by 1pv. The Serbian coach had recently joined the available coaches’ market, but it seems that he won’t remain a free agent for long. The reports cite that kassad will be coaching Extremum’s roster that is still under construction. The organization is reportedly building a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team. The coach had …
FPX agree to GODSENT roster deal pending player signings
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
FunPlus Phoenix has agreed in principle to a deal that would send GODSENT’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster to the Chinese esports organization pending FPX’s ability to negotiate contracts with each of the roster’s members individually. The news comes after the FLASHPOINT founding member declined to participate in the league’s second season, citing a desire to grow a “long-lasting” CSGO roster. FPX general manager Petar “peca” Markovic confirmed the rumor, making …
s1mple and electronic re-sign with Natus Vincere through 2022
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Natus Vincere took the time to retain key pieces of its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive squad this weekend when it signed both Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev and Denis “electronic” Sharipov to contract extensions that would keep the players with the organization throughout the 2022 CSGO season. As cornerstones of one of CSGO’s oldest and most successful organizations, both electronic and s1mple have produced consistently for Na`Vi since their arrival. The two are …
Coach kassad leaves Cloud9 following clash with ALEX
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Cloud9 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive coach Aleksandar “kassad” Trifunović parts ways with the organization after a four-month run with the overhauled roster. General manager Henry “HenryG” Greer revealed an internal clash to be the reason behind the move. The announcement comes as a surprise for the fans as the freshly renewed Cloud9 roster has just started to gain some ground. The general manager said that a conflict of styles between the …
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.
