Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
IEM Global Challenge set to be 1st CSGO live event since IEM Katowice
M Alzamora
ESL has announced its plans to host the 2020 IEM Global Challenge as a live event in December 2020. The tournament organizer revealed that the 2020 IEM Global Challenge will take place in Cologne, Germany, pending any more global developments that might impact the tournament. It will feature the top eight teams from a variety of tournaments set to take place between now and the end of the year. IEM …
Counter-Strike
NiKo is refusing to take blame for FaZe clan roster shuffles
Fariha Bhatti
Nikola “NiKo” Kovač has recently been under siege for the changes in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster. The veteran has finally responded to critics in a series of tweets. It hasn’t been long since NiKo last ranted on twitter about the community’s hate towards him and his team. The deteriorating condition of the team continues to draw criticism from fans and NiKo somehow always finds himself in hot water. “I can’t …
Counter-Strike
shroud x Logitech G collection surprises fans, site crashes
Olivia Richman
Former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro Michael “shroud” Grzesiek announced a new partnership on Twitch. The popular streamer has partnered with Logitech G and has a new line of gaming accessories being launched. The line of products is called the shroud X Logitech G collection, which are black and blue to match shroud’s new logo. shroud noted that he actually redesigned his logo because the old one “didn’t look good on …
Counter-Strike
Dignitas bench GeT_RiGhT, Xizt after disastrous CSGO return
M Alzamora
DIGNITAS has announced the benching of Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund and Richard “Xizt” Landström from its active Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster. The removal of the two veteran players from the DIGNITAS lineup comes nine months after the organization reformed the famed Ninjas in Pyjamas roster that dominated in CSGO’s early esports history. But after months of trying to rekindle the NiP magic, Dignitas is calling it quits. The news was revealed …
FalleN steps down from MIBR roster after recent changes
gabhernandez
Counter-Strike
FalleN’s announcement to step down from the active roster of MIBR came soon after the Brazilian organization decided to drop Fernando “fer” Alvarenga, Epitacio “TACO” de Melo, and coach Ricardo “dead” Sinigaglia. The CSGO veteran attributed his departure to MIBR’s decision to drop the team’s most experienced players. FalleN disagrees with the organization’s abrupt decision to cut off the players and ex-coach. “I’m not satisfied with the recent decision. Last …
MIBR cuts fer and TACO in shock move, FalleN remains with team
M Alzamora
News
MIBR has cut superstar players Fernando “fer” Alvarenga and Epitacio “TACO” de Melo, as well as head coach Ricardo “dead” Sinigaglia from its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Team after a series of poor performances. The release came a little over a week after dead was caught and suspended for his use of the CSGO coaching exploit in official tournament matches. The cuts follow several tournaments’ worth of poor performances from the …
How do the ranks in Valorant compare to ranks in CSGO?
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Valorant has three more ranking sections than CSGO, meaning that in theory, its ranks can be more accurate than CSGO’s. Rank is important to any competitive video game, and esports’ biggest first-person shooters are no exception. As Valorant’s audience grows and CSGO struggles with both a pervasive exploit issues in professional matches and accusations of matchfixing, casual players are paying more attention than ever to the kinds of ranks that …
How do CSGO Wingman ranks compare to competitive ranks?
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
CSGO’s Wingman game mode is a competitive two-versus-two setting with ranks that can help players to improve their competitive play. While Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s main competitive mode is a five-versus-five affair, the game’s Wingman mode has its own ranks and helps players to better hone their skills. Each mode starts off with two players on each team and is a perfect practice ground for the late-game situations in the game’s …
FACEIT looking to fix North American CSGO with new FPL Cup events
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
FACEIT is overhauling its long-running FPL program by introducing team qualifications and cash prizes to the system. The third-party tournament organizer announced a complete rework of its FPL circuit, a division of its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive services that offer the opportunity for growing players to gain experience by playing with professionals. Instead of qualifiying individually for FPL as they did before, players will now qualify as a team and compete …
Daps out at Gen.G, will finish with team at ESL Pro League
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Damian “daps” Steele will no longer lead Gen.G’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive squad, according to a post from the in-game leader on his official Twitter account. The tweet was accompanied by a Twitlonger that pinned daps’ departure on a mixture of CSGO burnout as well as disagreement inside the squad over the direction of the team. Moving on from Gen.Ghttps://t.co/O7dG3eJ2y7Will still finish out EPL with the team until they find a …
This CSGO pistol guide has everything you need to know
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Pistols in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive can be a mystery. We’re here to help you solve it. CSGO’s pistols have spawned countless memes and headaches, but they’ve also made for some of the most impressive highlights the game has ever seen. Everyone clearly remembers when Nikola “niKo” Kovač dominated FaZe Clan on Cache with just a lone Deagle. A walkthrough showing off each pistol’s strengths, weaknesses, and limitations can help everyday …
ENCE suspends Twista for using CSGO coaching bug exploit
gabhernandez
Counter-Strike
Finnish coach Slaava “Twista” Räsänen has been suspended by ENCE until further notice, following his confessing to exploiting the infamous coaching bug. Slaava admitted to using the bug in 2017 during his time at iGame.com. ENCE announced the news of his suspension in a press release and further clarified that Slaava has never used the exploit during his tenure with the Finnish organization. Slaava joined ENCE as the head coach …
Cloud9 signs Vitality’s ALEX to massive $1.6 million deal
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Cloud9 has announced the first official signing of its latest rebuild. The massive deal saw them steal ex-Team Vitality in-game leader Alex “ALEX” McMeekin to a massive deal. The move was officially revealed this morning when ALEX appeared on 1PV’s livestream wearing a Cloud9 jersey to go along with a tweet from the North American org that revealed the exact details of ALEX’s three-year contract. Cloud9 Unleash the Colossus ☄????Player: …
ALEX bids farewell to Vitality, hints at his next team
gabhernandez
Counter-Strike
Alex “ALEX” McMeekin, who has been warming the Team Vitality bench for quite some time, has finally decided to take his leave. The 24 year old, now-former in-game leader took to Twitter to confirm his departure from Vitality. ALEX joined Vitality in December 2018 and took over the position of IGL, replacing Vincent “Happy” Schopenhauer. During his short tenure, he helped to win the French team plenty of titles and …
Ukraine has now recognized esports as an official sport
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
Esports is now considered an official sport in Ukraine. The country’s Commission for the Recognition of Sports of the Ukrainian Ministry for Youth and Sports announced that esports is officially a sport. In the government’s press release, the Ukrainian Esports Federation (UESF) and the Ukrainian Professional Cybersport Association (UPEA) had lobbied for esports to be recognized, with the UESF submitting documents to the Ministry. “I am very happy that we …
Valve finally speaks on coaches caught cheating with exploit
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
After nearly two weeks of admissions from teams and coaches that they used a long-running exploit to gain advantages in competitive matches, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive developer Valve has finally commented on the scandal. In an announcement that came alongside the developer’s decision to cancel the ESL One Rio Major, Valve also handed down penalties to teams who had been caught abusing a spectator bug to view enemy teams. The list …
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
