Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
WINNERS League Season 4 Invite Division – Chaos in North America, crazy CIS matchup in Europe
gabhernandez
Round 4 is in session and we’ve seen our first teams qualify for playoffs and get eliminated from the event.Instability plagues the NA CS scene and we’re seeing a lot of notable teams go through heaps of roster changes and disbands. Tensions are heating up, as the upcoming week will bring a lot more critical matches and perhaps even heartbreaking upsets. As always, viewers will be able to tune in …
News
Dupreeh fires back at Astralis critics after string of losses
M Alzamora
After losing three games in a row, Astralis’ Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen took to Twitter to defend the team’s two stand-ins. The second-ranked team in the world has lost five of its last six after the departures of in-game leader Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander and rifler Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth. Fans of the organization aren’t pleased with the profound dip in production. One member of Astralis took the time to send a message …
Counter-Strike
CS Summit 6 reveals team lineups and schedule for EU and NA
M Alzamora
Valve’s second Regional Ranking tournament, CS Summit 6, will host competitions in both Europe and North America starting on June 13. The two-stage qualifiers will begin on June 13 and 14 with the open portion of CS Summit 6, followed by what are the actual regional qualifiers for the tournament. Eight teams from North America and 16 from Europe will then compete in another round of qualifiers on June 22 …
Counter-Strike
CIS RMR Clutch Island teams announced, include forZe, Syman, more
M Alzamora
Days after WePlay! Clutch Island was announced as the CIS region’s summer Regional Ranking tournament, WePlay! has announced the full list of teams that will participate in the tournament. Five teams have earned a spot in the tournament through its closed qualifiers, include Nemiga Gaming, Syman Gaming, ESPADA, Gambit Youngsters, and forZe. These five teams will compete against three other squads that will have fought their way through the tournament’s …
Counter-Strike
smooya announces free agency after move to TIGER fails
Steven Rondina
Owen “smooya” Butterfield is a free agent. Again. The British AWPer announced he is back on the market after previously flirting with Mongolian organization TIGER. Smooya wants to return to action, but shut down the idea of moving to Asia by stating he is looking for offers from North America or Europe. Smooya first broke into the upper echelons of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in 2017 with Epsilon Esports. He departed …
Counter-Strike
CIS Regional Ranking Tournament will be WePlay!’s Clutch Island
M Alzamora
Valve has announced the next Regional Ranking Tournament for the CIS region as WePlay!’s Clutch Island. The tournament offers a $50,000 grand prize, but participants will most likely be more focused on the qualification points available for the upcoming ESL One Rio Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major. The tournament will play out over three stages that begin on June 8 with the tournament’s open qualifiers allowing three teams to move forward …
Counter-Strike
ORDER vs AVANT at DreamHack Masters Spring betting analysis
M Alzamora
While neither ORDER nor AVANT immediately come to mind when some international fans think about the Oceanic region, this DreamHack Masters Spring upper bracket showdown should be a fiery one. Fans may immediately want to hand this game to ORDER, especially considering the greater name recognition of the team’s players. With players like Ricardo “Rickeh” Mulholland and Karlo “USTILO” Pivacs, ORDER immediately has an advantage in this matchup. Rickeh has …
Counter-Strike
New CSGO Source 2 hints drop along with Dota 2’s TI10 Battle Pass
M Alzamora
New CSGO code was found inside DotA 2’s TI10 Battle Pass update and a recent update to Half-Life: Alyx that has to do with graphical improvements to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and its long-awaited Source 2 port. Fans have heard this before. Over the last several months, several changes relevant to CSGO have appeared inside updates to both Dota 2 and Half-Life: Alyx. That may sound odd to newcomers given that …
This 64-tick Mirage smoke is going to win you more games
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Of all the big Counter-Strike: Global Offensive maps, the second most popular has to be Mirage. And there’s a great smoke that could dramatically increase your win rate on the popular map. Whether playing on FACEIT, ESEA, or just regular old matchmaking, Mirage pops up a ton. While even players of the lowest rank can throw the A-site stairs smoke, players are hard pressed to find someone who knows a …
Did you know silent jumping in CSGO isn’t really silent?
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Silent jumping is an important and valuable tool in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. It doesn’t quite live up to its name, though. 100 Thieves coach Chet “ImAPet” Singh discussed this in a short post on Twitter, saying that he’s surprised at how many people are unaware of this nuance: Just going to spread awareness but when you think you’re silent jumping to an area, there is still sound (very low), so …
WINNERS League Season 4 Invite Division – Round 3 rankings and preview
gabhernandez
Counter-Strike
As WINNERS League enters its third week, fans will see the league’s first qualifier and elimination matches. After two weeks of play, it’s safe to say that the entire league couldn’t be any closer skill wise, which should lead to some exciting matchups here in week three. There have been a few surprises in how the previous matches turned out. As always, viewers will be able to tune in on …
Valve just teased a new in-game statistics feature in CSGO
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
A brand new stats feature may soon be coming to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Some fans might have thought that the recent update for CSGO was a little underwhelming. While the update did a ton of work on CSGO’s backend code, there wasn’t much added to the game besides some main menu customization options and an admittedly awesome Warhammer 40K sticker capsule. But a closer look at the screenshots released with …
Xyp9x officially breaks from CSGO, Astralis adds Heroic’s Snappi
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Another one of Astralis’ stars is set to take a break from competitive Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The Danish organization confirmed previous reports that Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth is set to step away for the game for an indefinite period of time. In his stead, the team will add Heroic’s Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer. This follows months of roster shuffles and uncertainty at Astralis despite the team enjoying years sustained of success. Xyp9x …
Latest CSGO update adds new stickers based on Warhammer 40K
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has a new update and it’s chock full of customization options for hardcore players. Valve has added a brand new sticker pack to Counter-Strike for those dedicated citizens of the Imperium to enjoy. In a surprise update that no one knew they wanted, CSGO’s brand new sticker capsule comes straight out of the 41st Millenium. The Warhammer franchise has an avid fanbase, and this sticker pack may …
Is Astralis eyeing NiP, Heroic players after alleged Xyp9x departure?
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
Multiple sources close to Astralis have allegedly confirmed that Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth has left the organization for the time being. In a report by Jarek Dekay Lewis, it’s rumored that coach Danny “zonic” Sørensen has taken his place in recent practices. Meanwhile, Astralis has reached out to Ninjas in Pyjamas about acquiring Jonas “Lekr0” Olofsson and inquired about Patrick “es3tag” Hansen on Heroic. So far, Dekay’s report states that no …
CSGO records sudden drop in players as Valorant beta goes live
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive recorded its first drop in players since October 2019, according to Steam tracking website SteamCharts. The drop in players lines up almost exactly with the release of Valorant, Riot Games’ debut entry into the first-person shooter genre and a direct competitor to CSGO. There isn’t necessarily a reason for CSGO fans to panic. Counter-Strike is still pulling in over one million active players per day nearly nine …
Valve cooperating with Chinese state controls for push into China
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Fans of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2 may be surprised to learn that their favorite game’s developer has been working with government forces in China to enable the country’s strict restrictions on its citizens. Valve Software, creator of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, and the popular Steam client, has been working with the People’s Republic of China since at least June 2019 in an ongoing effort to monetize the …
This new remastered Cache looks amazing in Unreal Engine 4
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
An intrepid Reddit user has released a screenshot of Counter-Stike: Global Offensive as seen from inside Unreal Engine 4. With all the rumors of Source 2 floating around, the screenshot is bound to raises some eyebrows, especially as Valve has seen fit to update other games including Dota 2 and Half-Life: Alyx, ahead of their flagship first-person shooter’s presumed upgrade. Porting CSGO Maps into other engines isn’t anything new. …
shroud predicts that Mixer will surpass Twitch in the future
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
When former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro Michael “shroud” Grzesiek left Twitch for Mixer, a lot of big-name streamers questioned his decision. “Who is going to follow shroud now, huh Mixer? Nobody! Nobody’s following!” Herschel “Dr Disrespect” Beahm ranted soon after shroud left Twitch. At the time, DrDisrespect claimed that Mixer was just trying to be relevent; something they never would be. But now shroud is arguing that Mixer may not only …
FaZe announces 16-year-old Bymas as olof’s stand-in for DreamHack
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
FaZe Clan is never one to shy away from signing rookies and young talent. The organization announced today that 16-year-old Aurimas “Bymas” Pipiras will be standing in for Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer Gustafsson on their Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster. The young rifler will be playing with the squad in the DreamHack Masters Group Stage. CSGO insider Jarek Lewis predicted this roster move a few days ago. This is Bymas’ first opportunity …
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.
