Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
You can still play CSGO after CS2 launch, here’s how
William Davis
CS2 is here, but if you’re missing the old CSGO already, here’s how you can still play it. The Source 2 engine is amazing, but for all of the shiny new toys available in Counter-Strike 2, there’s still a lot missing from the game. From alternate game modes to community-made maps, Valve still hasn’t ported many beloved features from the old game to the new one. However, there’s still a …
Counter-Strike
How to download and play Workshop maps in CS2
William Davis
Workshop maps are a key part of the CS2 experience, but Valve isn’t making it easy to get them. CS2 is here, and while the core gameplay has been generally well-received by players, several key features are still missing. Workshop maps are chief among them, with tons of community tools now rendered unusable in the Source 2 engine. However, mappers are hard at work making new maps and porting old …
Counter-Strike
Aimbotz is back in CS2, here’s how to play it
William Davis
Aimbotz is the most legendary aim training map in Counter-Strike, but how does it stack up in CS2? Any Counter-Strike player worth their salt knows about aim training, and Aimbotz has always been one of the best places to start. The simple map has everything a player needs to start training their aim, and the massive list of settings and options will keep them around for hundreds of hours. Unfortunately, …
Counter-Strike
CS2 is officially out, here’s how to download it
William Davis
CS2 is out, and you may already have the download complete if you haven’t checked yet. Valve has been teasing Counter-Strike 2 hard for months. Ever since the initial announcement, fans of the franchise have been equally excited and scared of what the next installment will be. While the new mechanics and engine change have already been largely explored in the beta, the official launch is a chance for everyone …
Counter-Strike
Two ways to get agent skins in Counter-Strike explained
William Davis
Agent skins are one of the more controversial cosmetic options in Counter-Strike history, so newer players have a harder time learning how to get them. But we have a few ways to get them. Love them or hate them, CS2 agent skins are here to stay. While they haven’t been confirmed for Counter-Strike 2, Valve has affirmed that all gun, glove, and knife skins will be ported over to the …
Counter-Strike
Get a free demo review from Karrigan on Skin.Club
William Davis
Skin.Club, one of the biggest Counter-Strike: Global Offensive case opening sites worldwide, has partnered with FaZe Clan captain and newly-awarded IGL of the Year Finn “Karrigan” Andersen. The skin website has announced the relaunch of Karrigan Reviews, a contest where fans can earn a demo review from one of CSGO’s most decorated players. Two winners can submit a gameplay demo for Karrigan to watch every month. He provides feedback and …
Counter-Strike
Doodle Lore removed after community accuses CSGO of stealing art
Fariha Bhatti
The CSGO Revolution bundle packed jaw-dropping skins, but the popular AWP Doodle Lore is no longer a part of it. In February, Valve churned out Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s one of greatest skin cases in Revolution. The set stored vibrant items with detailed art on them. One of the skins even looks like a ripe banana. But, the AWP Doodle Lore by Jimmba caught the player’s attention. Painted with doodles of …
Counter-Strike
“We’re not b—es!”: YEKINDAR on Liquid’s IEM Katowice run
William Davis
Mareks “YEKINDAR” Katowice talks the CT rifle meta, new map Anubis, and the differences between NA and CIS in our exclusive interview from IEM Katowice 2023. Team Liquid is out of Katowice in third place following a loss to G2 Esports in the semi-finals. This earned the team $80,000, sharing the third-fourth place with Natus Vincere. Fan-favorite rifler YEKINDAR put on a great performance in the podium run, with 78.9 …
CSGO Revolution Case: All the new skins and golds
William Davis
Counter-Strike
After more than seven months with no new skins, the Revolution Case is here to end the drought in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. CSGO began setting a new record for the longest time between case releases in late 2022, with nothing new for more than 220 days after the Recoil Case dropped. Now that dry spell has finally ended with the release of the Revolution case. This new set of skins …
How to get rid of bots in CSGO with console commands
William Davis
Counter-Strike
There are a lot of bots in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and we’re not just talking about the ones on your team in matchmaking. A big part of developing your CSGO skills is finally opening up offline matches to practice lineups, movements, and map awareness. An empty version of Mirage or Vertigo is the ideal training ground for learning new smokes or practicing tricky jumps. However, it can be difficult to …
How to play CSGO Unblocked in 2023?
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike is arguably the most popular first-person shooter in history. The game was released in 2000, with multiple versions being released through the years. Like any good game, it had some copycats, including CSGO Unblocked, a simple take on the classic. CSGO continues to be one of the most popular shooter games. According to reports from Steam, CSGO had a peak of 1,065,079 simultaneous active players during December of 2022. …
This CSGO player has the weirdest controls of all time
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Pro players controls are a common topic of discussion in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, but there’s one setup that new players should avoid entirely. Thanks to some esports’ decades of competitive history, players have picked up some pretty weird quirks. Whether it’s click-to-drag in StarCraft or legacy keys in Dota 2, customizable controls always lead to players making wild changes to their inputs. However, one professional CSGO player has reached the …
k0ngif reveals details of Malta fight after Astralis drops him
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Astralis has dropped Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke from the starting roster of their Counter-Strike: Global Offensive division, citing personal circumstances. k0nfig has played a pivotal role in Astralis’ shooter lineup since November 2021. The reputed CSGO player joined the Danish organization after a tumultuous stint with Complexity alongside Benjamin “blameF” Bremer — a move that seemed refreshing at the surface failed to have much impact. Despite it all, Astralis retained the core players. …
How G2 captain HooXi went from CSGO meme to gigachad
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen is rarely G2 Esports’ top fragger, but that hasn’t stopped fans from treating him like a superstar. Shortly after becoming G2 Esports captain, HooXi was immediately torn to shreds by Counter-Strike: Global Offensive fans for his low-impact rifling skills. Now just a few short weeks later, those same fans are celebrating every kill and brigading MVP votes in his favor. What caused HooXi to go from a …
Why is the rox Holo signature such an expensive CSGO sticker?
William Davis
Counter-Strike
The Martin “rox” Molina holo has become one of the most expensive stickers in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, but the reason why is a little complicated. Plenty of CSGO players have attempted to stick out from the crowd with unique signature stickers. From the classic contributions of Oliver “DickStacy” Tierney to the nickname drops of Mikhail “Dosia” Stolyarov, there’s plenty of funny ways to make skins stand out by using stickers. …
s1mple tosses medal into IEM Cologne crowd after finals loss
William Davis
Counter-Strike
The cathedral of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive handed yet another trophy to Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev, but it wasn’t the one he was hoping for. IEM Cologne marks the third time in s1mple’s career that he has won the MVP trophy without winning the tournament. The medal came after a narrow loss to FaZe Clan in the grand finals. s1mple’s outstanding performance in Cologne with .84 kills and 82 damage per round …
The owner of CSGO’s legendary bugged Karambit has been revealed
William Davis
Counter-Strike
The Starless Karambit has been a mystery for years, but now Counter-Strike: Global Offensive skin fanatics finally know who owns the legendary knife. Thanks to a prolific trader briefly turning their profile to public after years of being private, CSGO fans now know who owns the famous Starless Karambit. It is currently in the inventory of a prolific trader using the handle HFB. Here’s how fans learned about its owner …
Why the most expensive CSGO knife costs more than $1.5 million
William Davis
Counter-Strike
The most expensive knife skin in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is worth almost as much as a Bugatti Veyron luxury sports car. But why? A Factory New Karambit | Case Hardened with a perfect blue gem pattern is currently the most expensive knife skin in all of CSGO. Valued for at least $1.5 million, the skin is the single most valuable skin in the entire game. The skin is currently owned …
These are the callouts you must know playing Overpass in CSGO
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Overpass is one of the most enduring maps of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and because of that, any ranked player needs to commit its callouts to memory. Overpass is one of the most popular and notorious maps in competitive CSGO. Though it’s always been below Mirage and Dust 2 in terms of popularity, it’s still stuck around for years. This largely stems from the incredible depth of the map. While other …
These are the most important callouts for CSGO map Nuke
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Callouts are important on every map in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. There’s no CSGO map where callouts are more important than Nuke, though. Nuke is one of the trickiest maps to play in a solo queue environment. This stems from the fact that it’s one of the few maps built around being tall instead of wide. Nuke effectively has three floors stacked on top of one another. This makes it immensely …
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.
