Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Did you know silent jumping in CSGO isn’t really silent?
Steven Rondina
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 …
Counter-Strike
WINNERS League Season 4 Invite Division – Round 3 rankings and preview
gabhernandez
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 …
Counter-Strike
Valve just teased a new in-game statistics feature in CSGO
M Alzamora
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 …
Counter-Strike
Xyp9x officially breaks from CSGO, Astralis adds Heroic’s Snappi
Steven Rondina
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 …
Pro players run into blatant cheaters during Red Bull Flick showmatch
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
The recent Red Bull Flick tournament saw some pretty suspicious flicks on stream, as ENCE’s Aleksi “allu” Jalli and Elias “Jamppi” Olkkonen appeared to run into a duo with inhuman reactions during the tournament’s showmatch. The Red Bull Flick tournament, a two-versus-two showdown on custom maps that WIN.gg showcased here, was marred by an instance of cheating so blatant that even a Silver 3 could have spotted them. Thankfully, the …
FURIA vs. Chaos EC, DreamHack Masters Spring Betting Analysis
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
In North America’s fragmented Counter-Strike: Global Offensive scene, the top dogs might no longer be the most interesting teams to watch. While organizations like Team Liquid and Evil Geniuses struggle to put up wins in today’s online tournaments, two teams in FURIA and Chaos Esports Club are turning heads. There’s no denying that FURIA is the best team Brazil has to offer right now. If they had competed in the …
FaZe Clan’s olofmeister steps away from Counter-Strike, cites burnout
M Alzamora
News
Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer Gustafsson has stepped back from professional Counter-Strike, according to a tweet from FaZe Clan. Olofmeister and FaZe clan announced the news today on Twitter, citing a loss of motivation to continue to compete. The move comes just before CS Summit 6, the second Regional Major tournament through which teams will qualify for the upcoming ESL One Rio Major. FaZe Clan will lose 20% of their earned Regional …
Team Liquid gives an inside look at s1mple’s time with CSGO squad
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Team Liquid’s new video show “Tilts” recently took on the topic of what happens when a player leaves a team, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive manager Steve “jokasteve” Perino and Team Liquid co-owner Steve Arhancet took the opportunity to talk about one of CSGO’s best players and his time with the organization. Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev spent nearly five months on Team Liquid at the beginning of 2016, helping the team become …
VP adds yek1ndar to CSGO roster amid slump, buster is out
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Virtus.pro has made a change to its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster following almost a year of underperformances from a former AVANGAR team that once made the finals of the StarLadder Berlin Major. The team has moved Timur “buster” Tulepov to the bench, saying that the rifler will return to the active roster soon. In his place, VP has brought in rifler Dmitry “yek1ndar” Lemeshchuk from PRO100 to fill in for …
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.
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Counter-Strike
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