Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
100 Thieves coach ImAPet retires from CSGO, talks return
M Alzamora
100 Thieves head coach Chet “ImAPet” Singh has announced that he has retired from the role and will pursue other opportunities. ImAPet made the announcement on Twitter, thanking 100 Thieves and its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players for the opportunity to work with them. He gave special attention to the fact that the organization allowed him to terminate his contract at will. That emphasis reveals that not only was ImAPet’s decision …
Counter-Strike
OG coach ruggah suspended for coaching bug, but not fired
Olivia Richman
37 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive coaches have already been banned from competition after the Esports Integrity Commission found them guilty of using a spectator bug in previous tournaments. One of those coaches is 32-year-old Casper “ruggah” Due, OG Esports’ head coach. ruggah used the spectating bug for a single round during the 2016 ESL Pro League Season 4 Europe tournament, according to the ESIC. While coaching for Dignitas, ruggah used it …
Counter-Strike
Dignitas restructures CSGO division, with new IGL, head coach
Fariha Bhatti
Dignitas has announced some shuffles in its’ Counter Strike: Global Offensive roster with Halvor “vENdetta” Gulestøl assuming the role of the head coach and Adam “Friberg” Friberg taking over the position of in-game leader. Dignitas has undergone a series of changes yet again following the news of Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund and Richard “Xizt” Landström’s benching. The two CSGO veterans were benched following a series of poor performances in online tournaments. …
Counter-Strike
New CSGO version of Tuscan appears one year after rumors
M Alzamora
Its been almost an entire year since WIN.gg’s last report on rumors of a de_tuscan remake, but it seems as though the map’s original designer have completed an early draft of a Counter-Strike classic. Created in 2007 by Colin “Brute” Volrath, de_tuscan is one of the Counter-Strike series’ most famous maps, especially to older players that remember its time in the spotlight. Tuscan has always been characterized by close corners …
Complexity adds Nordavind’s NaToSaphiX on loan after oBo leaving
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
After the unexpected departure of Owen “oBo” Schlatter, Complexity has added Nordavind rifler Niels-Christian “NaToSaphiX” Sillassen on a short-term loan. Nordavind announced the news on the organization’s official Twitter account, saying that it had completed a deal with the North American organization for NaToSaphiX effective immediately. The move comes just days after oBo suddenly left both Europe and his place on Complexity with little notice, leaving the organization to field …
FunPlus Phoenix hires peca to be CSGO and Valorant GM
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
FunPlus Phoenix has announced that Petar “peca” Markovic will be the organization’s new general manager for two key first-person shooters. The position will require peca to build FPX’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team, as well as manage the current Valorant roster. This is a move that FunPlus Phoenix hopes will “open a successful chapter” in both esports titles. Please give a warm welcome to Petar Markovic @pecagg , who has joined …
Report: Vitality considering adding 6th player to CSGO team
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
French Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team Vitality is exploring adding a sixth member to its roster. According to an anonymously sourced report from French news website 1pv.fr, Vitality is the latest organization to consider adding a sixth player to its five-man roster. The move would make Vitality the third major team to build an expanded roster, with the report going on to list four potential additions to its roster. There are …
Head coach Guerri plans on expanding Furia’s CSGO roster
Fariha Bhatti
News
Furia’s head coach Nicholas “guerri” Nogueira has revealed his plan to expand Furia’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster after a thorough evaluation of the six-man team format. Team Furia was a dark horse that has shone during the online era of CSGO, making its way into the world’s top 10 ranked teams. The Brazilian organization reached this milestone with a sturdy squad of five. However, the team’s head coach plans to …
The numbers say these are the top 10 teams in CSGO
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
WIN.gg’s first set of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive rankings is here, and it’s meant to more accurately determine the top teams than ever before. These rankings may be controversial. Some might disagree. But using a statistical algorithm that harnesses all available CSGO data means that these rankings aren’t just the top teams now, but also how they should shake out in the foreseeable future. Statistics show that Astralis is still the …
ESIC finishes CSGO coaching bug investigation, verdict coming soon
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
The Esports Integrity Commission is set to release the results of its investigation into Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s coaching exploit, but there’s a “but.” After the reveal that several professional CSGO coaches used an exploit to gain an unfair advantage in professional games going as far back as 2015, the Commission will release its findings on Monday, September 28, according to a tweet from the organization’s official Twitter account. ESIC is …
Furia’s arT says the Krieg is useless, wants to see it buffed
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Furia’s Andrei “arT” Piovezan has declared SG-553 Krieg to be useless in a Reddit “ask me anything” session. The in-game leader shared his opinion on a variety of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive weapons during the talk. The Brazillian rifler gave his fans carte blanche to ask him anything in the Reddit post. In one of the answers, arT went ahead and gave a detailed analysis of different weapons in CS:GO. “And …
oBo benches himself from Complexity’s starting lineup
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Owen “oBo” Schlatter has removed himself from Complexity’s starting lineup, leaving the organization in a bind after his surprise return to the United States. According to Complexity CEO Jason Lake, oBo had originally planned to play out the remainder of ESL Pro League’s Season 12 before returning to the United States, but oBo called the team on the morning of September 22 and informed them that he was about to …
ESL announces the 2021 CSGO Pro Tour schedule
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Esports tournament organizer ESL has released the its 2021 Pro Tour schedule while unveiling a brand new LAN studio. A tweet from ESL’s official Twitter account announced the schedule for the second year of the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event organizer’s ESL Pro Tour. The schedule includes some of CSGO’s most popular events such as ESL One Cologne and next year’s version of the rescheduled 2020 IEM Melbourne. ESL also revealed …
CSGO’s best AWP styles start with dev1ce and end with s1mple
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Professional CSGO AWPers have a wide range of styles, but two of the best are able to show off the weapon’s main styles and best uses. The AWP is the most powerful weapon in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s arsenal and can be both an aggressive nightmare or a defensive turret. The AWP retains its power no matter how the player uses it, especially when players study two of CSGO’s best AWPers: …
woxic signs $1.3 million contract to join Cloud9’s CSGO team
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Cloud9 and it’s new general manager have had a busy weekend, announcing the signing of former mousesports player Özgür “woxic” Eker as their roster’s third official player. The news came only hours after Cloud9 revealed that it had inked British rifler William “mezii” Merriman to a $426,000 contract. Cloud9’s general manager, former Counter-Strike player and commentator Henry “HenryG” Greer, kicked off his new role at the North American esports organization …
Cloud9 signs GamerLegion’s mezii to deal worth over $400,000
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
William “mezii” Merrimanis is the second British addition to Cloud9’s new “Colossus” Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster. The North American organization acquired the British rifler from Team GamerLegion for a transfer fee of $83,000. Cloud9’s general manager Henry “HenryG” Greer announced the news and details about Mezii’s contract in a tweet. He confirmed that the deal between Cloud9 and Mezii is a three-year contract worth a total of $426,000. The young …
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
