Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
New CSGO operation Broken Fang is the biggest one yet
M Alzamora
After more than a year of waiting and months of teasing, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s Operation Broken Fang has arrived. CSGO’s newest operation comes with a batch of new features, including live stats tracking, four new skin collections, a brand new in-game ping system, and a whole host of features that CSGO players have begged for over the years. The operation comes with live map picks and bans prior to each …
Counter-Strike
MIBR fined by FLASHPOINT for stream sniping in match against OG
M Alzamora
MIBR was fined $10,000 for having its match against OG visible by players during the game, according to an official announcement by FLASHPOINT. Although FLASHPOINT made it clear that it’s livestream is on a considerable delay, FP and its board of governors decided to impose the fine and called the action “a breach of competitive integrity.” The announcement went on to say that all teams have been informed that the …
Counter-Strike
Alex leads Cloud9’s CSGO resurgence at DreamHack Masters
M Alzamora
Cloud9’s matchups against ENCE at DreamHack Masters Winter showed off that in-game leader Alex “Alex” McMeekin has been defying convention as the team’s shotcaller. IGL’ing in CSGO usually comes with a serious dip in form. These players not only have to make the calls and organize the strategies that win their team’s games, but they have to do so in the middle of rounds as well. Some players have been …
Counter-Strike
Chaos confirms that it will drop CSGO and Rainbow 6 teams
M Alzamora
After a week of rumors, Chaos Esports Club has announced that it will no longer field rosters in either Counter-Strike: Global Offensive or Rainbow 6: Siege, according to an announcement from the organization’s official blog. The blog cited the current travel restrictions as one of its main reasons for dropping the squads, as well as effects on the organization’s ability to attract sponsors to the teams. Instead, Chaos says that …
Counter-Strike
Sprout benches snatchie and dycha ahead of 2021 season
Fariha Bhatti
German Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team Sprout has announced the benching of Polish duo Paweł “dycha” Dycha and Fritz “slaxz” from the active roster. Both players have been placed on the transfer list as sources report Sprout will return to a full-German CSGO squad heading into next year. Jarek “DeKay” Lewis also reported that the team is eyeing ALTERNATE aTTaX duo Marko “kressy” Đorđević and Fritz “slaxz” Dietrich as possible replacements. …
Counter-Strike
This ridiculous Overpass boost could change your next game
M Alzamora
Overpass has a long history of crazy boosts, and players are still finding new ones nearly eight years after its release. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s Overpass has seen more boosts than players care to count, and it isn’t slowing down anytime soon. It’s only been six months since players found an overpowered three-man stack in CT spawn, but Triumph pulled out all the stops just to get a free shot at …
Counter-Strike
Valve has removed Fnatic KRIMZ’s VAC ban, Esportal blamed
Fariha Bhatti
Counter Strike: Global Offensive professional Freddy “KRIMZ” Johansson has confirmed that he’s once again free to play CSGO after a short VAC ban was rendered by Valve. Fnatic’s ace rifler was mysteriously banned a few days ago, with many speculating that ban was due to third-party platform Esportal. Im free mfs ???????? — Freddy Johansson (@Krimz) December 1, 2020 Fnatic’s Krimz was handed a ban during an apparent Esportal ban …
Counter-Strike
Hackers stealing CSGO skins through iOS vulnerability, Steam API
M Alzamora
Most serious skin collectors and players have thier Steam account protected by two-factor authentication, but it turns out that having the securty feature on Steam isn’t enough. The hijacking of two high-profile accounts in the past year show that a user’s inventory isn’t always as secure as they think it to be. On November 28, professional CSGO player Paytyn “Junior” Johnson woke up to find that almost his entire inventory …
Fnatic’s KRIMZ receives VAC ban before Flashpoint 2 match
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Fnatic Counter-Strike: Global Offensive star and two-time major winner Freddy “KRIMZ” Johansson revealed that his Steam account was VAC banned, but it is unclear what this ban stems from. The player’s accomplished history in CSGO and the extra anti-cheat methods used by most tournament organizers suggests means there is little chance that KRIMZ has been aimbotting his way through recent tournaments. Valve Anti-Cheat used to be one of the most …
How to start CSGO in 128 tick mode without FACEIT or ESEA
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
With both ESEA and FACEIT offering 128-tick servers, players on those services had better practice at the same tick-rate. With Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s servers limited to only 60 ticks per second, sometimes what players see and what actually happens on the server are two different things. That’s just networking, and it’s an unavoidable part of multiplayer games. One way to fix that is to play on faster servers provided by …
Team Secret releases its entire CSGO roster after struggles
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Team Secret has announced that it has parted ways with its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster. The organization, best known for its Dota 2 team, acquired the then up-and-coming team m1x a year ago. Though promising on paper, the team severely underperformed while playing under the Secret banner. Frequent roster changes, lackluster placements, and ongoing travel issues are just some of the reasons that have sealed the teams’ fate. “It’s been …
FaZe Clan coach YNk wanted a bigger rebuild, talks IGL problems
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Faze’s former coach Janko “YNk” Paunović has said that a “bigger rebuild of the lineup” could have made him stay with FaZe Clan. FaZe Clan drops coach YnK YNk previously left the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team, citing dissatisfaction with the organization and its players. On HLTVConfirmed, YNk discussed the perpetual In-game leader problems in FaZe Clan that eventually led him to walk away. The coach had a vision of rebuilding …
This DreamHack trailer might have teased a returning CSGO map
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
The DreamHack Masters Winter trailer is impressive, but there was something that caught the eye of many viewers on Dust 2. The trailer for DreamHack Winter 2020 was a work of art, there’s no doubt about that. With beautiful animations to go with its soundtrack and voiceover, it’s an impressive piece of CSGO from Valve. But for all of the attention to detail given to the smallest parts of CSGO, …
Multiple North American orgs reportedly exiting Counter-Strike
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
New England Whalers has confirmed the release of its Counter Strike: Global Offensive roster and according to a report by DBLTAP, Chaos Esports Club might follow suit. Adding to what has already been a rough year for North American Counter-Strike, two organizations that have been steady presences are reportedly set to exit the game. The New England Whalers released the team citing the ongoing global health situation, while Chaos Esports …
Evil Geniuses pulls out of BLAST Showdown, Heroic to fill in
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Evil Geniuses announced that it would withdrawl from the BLAST Premier Showdown scheduled to start on November 24. EG revealed that its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team would not participate in the Showdown, BLAST’s version of a second chance qualifier for teams who failed to make the cut for its Fall finals. As the global condition worsens by the day, EG’s withdrawl makes plenty of sense from an organizational standpoint, much …
XSet’s female CSGO team wants to beat the best men’s teams
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
XSet has signed an all-female squad to mark their entry into the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive esports scene. The new lineup will wear XSet’s jerseys to compete against top-tier male teams. XSET enters the CSGO competitive scene with an all-female championship winning squad!????❌ @juliakiran❌ @mimimimichaela❌ @zAAzCSGO ❌ @kr4sy ❌ @PetraCSGOWatch the girls make their debut at the #DreamHack Dec. Open! ⚔️ #RepTheSet | JOIN US: https://t.co/O36uQ0dnyR pic.twitter.com/CnRjWWYsTe — XSET (@XSETGAMING) November …
One-handed streamer goes viral with her insane CSGO plays
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Twitch streamer Kika “xirilikika” Martins has surprised Counter Strike: Global Offensive players around the world with her incredible skills in the game. The 22-year-old streamer went viral after showing off some wild Deagle shots, all made while using only one hand.CSGO is a tricky game, which requires sharp hand-eye coordination, dexterous movement, and a lot of focus. While a small distraction can cost you a whole match, Kika can do …
flusha fined and sentenced for tax evasion over Fnatic winnings
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Fnatic’s Robin “flusha” Rönnquist was convicted of tax evasion stemming from his winnings from Fnatic’s 2015 banner year, according to a report by the Swedish news fragbite.se. The charge stems from what the Swedish courts say was a miscategorization of flusha’s winnings over the course of 2015, during which time flusha’s tournament winnings were reported as salary. Much like in the United States and other countries, any prize winnings are …
Team Liquid vs Triumph: IEM Beijing betting analysis
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Team Liquid has been on a roll since its return to play at IEM Beijing, and that shouldn’t stop against Triumph. The only real issue with 2020’s regional tournament separation has been that it is very clear that the top-tier teams in North American Counter-Strike: Global Offensive are heads and tails above the the rest. Beijing’s two top teams, Liquid and Evil Geniuses, have cruised through the group stage with …
tabseN stays atop CSGO rankings, but G2’s NiKo close behind
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
WIN.gg’s rankings take into account every detail of a player’s performance, and Johannes “tabseN” Wodarz is the king of hidden statistics. At first glance, BIG’s top star sitting above names like Matthieu “ZywOo” Herbaut and Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev might seem like a mistake. It’s not. tabseN is capable of blowing up on any given map, but that’s only half the story. In fact, it’s not the handful of 1.5+ ratings …
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.
