Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Prefiring tips that every CSGO player should know
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive can be all about outsmarting your opponent, but sometimes all it takes is good crosshair placement, sound mechanics, and a little bit of luck to seal a win. When fans think of Counter-Strike, they think of the exciting duels and the impressive flick shots, but many kills come from a tactic known as “prefiring.” Prefiring is the act of shooting where a player thinks their opponent will …
Counter-Strike
CSGO announces new software restrictions to combat cheating
M Alzamora
A tweet from the official CSGO Twitter account and an accompanying blog post announced that Valve will now restrict third-party software from interacting with the game in an effort to better combat cheating. The short blog post announced that Valve will now block many third-party applications from running alongside CSGO, but it declined to mention the exact types of software that will be blocked. The update is currently live in CSGO’s …
Counter-Strike
CSPPA calls out cs_summit for player breaks during tournaments
Olivia Richman
The Counter-Strike: Professional Players Association has responded to some teams’ complaints about recent tournament schedules. At the cs_summit six Europe tournament, c0ntract coach Neil Murphy spoke up about the tournament organizer’s response to his request for a quick break. “Two minutes after we won versus Complexity I asked for a 30 minute break,” Murphy tweeted. “It got blocked instantly. […] I can’t believe this is actually a reality.” In an …
Counter-Strike
What do fans and players want from the next CSGO operation?
M Alzamora
Since the end of Operation Shattered Web in March, players have been waiting for the next CSGO operation to launch. When Valve released Shattered Web in November 2019, CSGO players had been waiting almost two years for Valve’s next CSGO operation. While games like Apex Legends and Fortnite introduced seasons and battle passes to the competitive shooter world, Counter-Strike players waited patiently for the game’s developer to release the next …
Counter-Strike
Evil Geniuses beats MIBR for BLAST Premier NA title
M Alzamora
Evil Geniuses defeated MIBR in two maps and took the North American BLAST Premier Spring title. While they had to fend off a resurgent MIBR to do it, the win marks the team’s first tournament win since StarSeries iLeague Season 8 in October 2019. Both maps were hotly contested, with Dust 2 ending 16-14 in Evil Geniuses favor while Inferno actually went to overtime after MIBR managed to tie the …
Counter-Strike
Complexity Gaming stuns Vitality, wins BLAST Premier Spring
M Alzamora
After spending nearly the entire year stuck in Europe, Complexity Gaming defeated Europe’s Team Vitality 2-1 after losing the first map by 14 rounds. Complexity blew away Vitality today in one of the most exciting comebacks CSGO has seen in some time, but it didn’t seem like the grand finals of BLAST Premier Spring was going to be a lengthy one at first. Vitality quickly took control on Vertigo’s T …
Counter-Strike
HenryG’s ex accuses him of verbal, mental, and sexual abuse
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive caster and analyst Henry “HenryG” Greer has been accused of abusing and raping his ex-girlfriend. Kelly Jean posted a lengthy TwitLonger outlining the abuse she endured while dating HenryG, explaining that she is hoping it will help vulnerable women avoid dating someone with a history of abuse. My ex Henry “HenryG” Greer, was verbally, emotionally & mentally abusive and had sex with me when I did not …
News
With f0rest gone, Ninjas in Pyjamas is ready to break out again
M Alzamora
After the slow dismantling of the old Ninjas in Pyjamas roster, an impressive new group of young stars has taken its place. And they might be on the precipice of greatness. Over two years’ time, CSGO’s legendary Ninjas in Pyjamas team fell apart. It was slow at first, with the release of Adam “friberg” Friberg coming in July 2017, but friberg’s departure started a landslide that would see all of …
CSGO tournaments want MR12 to come back, but would it work?
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Some Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament organizers have recently espoused the virtues of the game returning to its MR12 roots. But even if such a change would help some events to stay on schedule, would it really be good for the game? If fans have ever tuned into competitive CSGO and heard the terms MR15 or MR12, they might not know what it stands for. It’s a simple concept that is …
New CSGO Steam Community features leak, include animated stickers
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Valve seems to be planning a big update to the Steam Community functionality, and it’s likely to delight Counter-Strike: Global Offensive fans. Data miner Pavel Djundik unearthed some files added to Steam that suggest some new features will be added soon. The first is new animated stickers for Steam Chat, while the second is a new avatar framing system. Animated chat stickers are exactly what they sound like. Steam chat …
FaZe Clan win after Bymas hits smoothest floor bang of 2020
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
In today’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, players and fans see wall bang kills all the time. But a wall bang kill on Nuke from FaZe Clan’s Aurimas “Bymas” Pipiras during BLAST Premier’s upper-bracket semifinal should have FaZe fans feeling very excited. In FaZe’s first map against Team Vitality for a BLAST Premier grand final spot, Bymas made a huge play that showcased both his aim and his game sense. Up 6-3 …
OG team comms hint at struggles after loss to Ninjas in Pyjamas
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
There might be a few issues within the lineup of OG’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive division. BLAST released a short clip of the team’s in-game comms during their lower bracket showdown with Ninjas in Pyjamas. OG coach Casper “ruggah” Due can be heard during the clip trying to rally his team while imploring them to tighten up their sloppy teamwork. “It’s really important for me to stress now, we need to …
Jamppi sued the wrong Valve company after being banned
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
After being banned from all major Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournaments, 18-year-old pro player Elias “Jamppi” Olkkonen is suing Valve. But not the Valve you’re thinking of. When Jamppi was banned from Valve-sponsored touraments due to a recorded VAC ban, Jamppi decided to sue the developer for the earnings he missed out on due to the punishment, about €268,092. Due to Finland’s Tort Act of 1974, which states that “courts can …
MIBR versus FURIA round restart ignites CSGO controversy
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
With FURIA and MIBR duking it out for the title of top Brazilian CSGO team at the BLAST Premier Spring Finals, a technical issue during the matchup had each team fighting in a battle outside the server. Pegged as the match that would determine the best South American CSGO team today, the series had massive viewership. More than 100,000 people tuned in to Brazilian CSGO streamer and former Counter-Strike pro …
MonteCristo announced as new commissioner of FLASHPOINT
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Christopher “MonteCristo” Mykles will serve as the commissioner of FLASHPOINT as well as the young tournament’s vice president of brand, according to an official press release from the organization. MonteCristo has spent more than 15 years in esports and has always had an interest in creating content for esports fans. With this experience, MonteCristo will serve as FLASHPOINT’s vice president of brand and will be a major figure in charge …
CSGO’s 2020 player count shows that it’s more popular than ever
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
As recently as the summer of 2019, CSGO was filled with players saying that the game was dead or dying. Looking at Counter-Strike’s 2020 player counts, it’s safe to say that things have changed. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is as strong as it has ever been, and its player counts back that up. On March 15, CSGO passed the one million concurrent player mark more than eight years after its release …
WePlay! Clutch Island’s closed qualifier guide, full schedule
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
WePlay!’s Clutch Island CIS tournament is moving full steam ahead, with WePlay! announcing the groups for the closed qualifier to the second Regional Major Rankings tournament of ESL One Rio. According to a post on Twitter, the groups are all set for closed qualifiers of Clutch Island’s first stages. The organizer released both the groups and the schedule for the remaining stages of the tournament. Clutch Island has a prize …
Contradictory statements from Astralis support turmoil reports
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Astralis, now the former number one team in the world, is in trouble. According to a report by Dexerto’s Richard Lewis, the Astralis organization has been suffering from internal turmoil for months, with its most recent roster swaps being just the tip of the iceberg. Lewis’ report cites several sources that say players of the Astralis Group, which include the CSGO team Astralis, League of Legends team Origen, and FIFA …
CSGO players just found a new Overpass boost that changes games
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Overpass has been host to many memorable events in CSGO. From Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer Gustafsson’s famous flaming defuse to Cloud9’s 16-10 win on the map that helped the team win its first CSGO Major title at ELEAGUE Boston 2018, Overpass has become iconic. But the map is also known for featuring a number of crazy boosts. More than any other map, Overpass’ multilevel layout lends itself to boosting, where one …
Former fnatic veteran dennis officially joins Apeks
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Dennis “dennis” Edman has finally found a home after an extended shuffle between European Counter-Strike teams. Apeks officially announced that they had officially signed the former fnatic rifler to their roster through a post on the team’s official Twitter account. PRESS RELEASE????Signing @denniscsgod full time – read more in our press release on Facebook!https://t.co/wGgeRppsej pic.twitter.com/chncKhtdzZ — Apeks (@apeksgg) June 15, 2020 dennis has been a part of competitive CSGO since …
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.
