Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
T1 signs Swag to Valorant team immediately after CSGO retirement
M Alzamora
International League of Legends powerhouse T1 has signed Braxton “swag” Pierce as the first member of its new Valorant roster. In a tweet from both swag and the official Twitter account of T1, the organization announced that it has signed the famous Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player to its entry team in Valorant. The game is Riot Game’s first title in the first-person shooting space, and the initial reviews have been …
Counter-Strike
Fnatic, Complexity headline a stacked ESL Rio European Minor
M Alzamora
The European invitees to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s first Minor of the year are all set. Fans now know which teams will represent their region at ESL One Rio’s Minors starting on April 26. There were surprises in most of this weekend’s regional competition at their respective Minor qualifiers, but the European Minor in particular, will undoubtedly see some fan favorites fail to qualify for 2020’s first Major tournament. The possibility of …
Counter-Strike
Valorant to use unique anti-cheat, new Vanguard system to fight hacks
Steven Rondina
Cheaters are an unfortunately normal part of the online gaming experience. Whether it’s map hackers or aim bots, people find ways to get an unfair advantage over the competition and it’s the game’s publishers who are the ones tasked with combating this. Riot Games’ Valorant will have very different concerns on this front than its first title, League of Legends. With that in mind, the company is working on its …
Counter-Strike
Renegades staff leaves, cites problematic CEO as takeover looms
M Alzamora
According to multiple sources, the mass resignations from Renegades on March 6 were due in large part to the behaviors of Renegades CEO Chris Roumayeh, including a perceived lack of leadership and alleged abuse directed towards some of those who resigned. When NBA player Jonas Jerebko jointly purchased RNG in 2016 with his financial advisor Chris Roumayeh, it was Roumayeh that was actually to serve as the organization’s CEO and …
Counter-Strike
Here are some of the esports events hit by the coronavirus outbreak
gabhernandez
The fast spreading COVID-19, commonly known as the coronavirus, has been the world’s biggest story of 2020 so far. It has also been a frequent part of the esports news cycle. The disease first became prevalent in Wuhan, China, and has spread to over 50 countries since. The virus is highly contagious and carries a high mortality rate, which is estimated to be 3.4% by the World Health Organization. Various …
Counter-Strike
ATK sprayxD: “Everyone believes we can make it to the Major”
M Alzamora
WIN.gg sat down with ATK’s Gareth “MisteM” Ries and new head coach Daniel “sprayxd” Kogan ahead of their opening match of ESL One Rio’s Middle East closed Minor qualifiers. In-game leader MisteM dishes on Tyson “TenZ” Ngo and sprayxD explains what the team has its eye on heading into the tournament. How did you and ATK build this roster, and how did you land on Tyson “TenZ” Ngo as your …
Counter-Strike
How CSGO’s M4A4 Griffin almost became the next contraband Howl
M Alzamora
Everyone has heard of the M4A4 Howl, one of only two items in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive that has ever claimed the rare Contraband quality, but most don’t know a second M4A4 skin almost became the Howl 2.0. In 2014, a design was uploaded to the Steam Workshop for an M4A4 weapon skin by a team of two artists. The design was slick and unique, two traits appreciated by Counter-Strike’s players. …
Counter-Strike
Team Envy revealed as 7th founding member of Flashpoint, 3 more remain
M Alzamora
Team Envy has announced that it is a part of North American franchised Counter-Strike: Global Offensive league Flashpoint. Team Envy joins Cloud9, MiBR, Gen.G, MAD Lions, Dignitas, and c0ntact Gaming as founding members of Flashpoint. As with these teams, Envy is a partial owner of the league and is a part of its revenue-sharing program. The league’s debut season is slated to kick off in May. “We’re excited about the future …
One key smoke on every map that all CSGO players need to know
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
There are few things more important than utility when it comes to winning a game of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. There’s nothing worse than getting only silence in return when you ask your matchmaking team if anyone knows any smokes. The problem can be even worse when third-party platforms offer better servers than Valve’s at attractive rates for free players and subscribers. There, the hardcore Counter-Strike Community meets the casual, and …
Former CSGO pro facing life in prison for embezzlement crimes
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
A former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro could be spending the rest of their life in prison. Brazilian influencer and former pro Shayenne “shAy” Victorio was sentenced to 116 years in prison for embezzlement, according to Column of Leo Dias. The conviction stems from a retail company shAy managed as a partner. From 2013 to 2017, customers didn’t receive the products they purchased, meaning shAy will also have to pay a …
ALEX splits from Vitality ahead of ESL Pro League Season 11
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Team Vitality and Alex “ALEX” McMeekin have officially parted ways. Both the team and the player have issued statements confirming the split. In a post on Twitlonger, ALEX cited the exhaustive travel and intense schedule of competitive Counter-Strike: Global Offensive as the reason for the split. Team Vitality officially announced the news today on the team’s official Twitter account, confirming yesterday’s rumors that ALEX had left the team. Vitality took the …
Flashpoint Global LAN schedule detailed as competition starts
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Flashpoint’s Global LAN qualifiers start today and run through Wednesday, March 5. The winning teams from across the European, North American, and South American regions will compete in two groups to decide who will represent their region at Flashpoint. Eight teams are participating in Flashpoint’s Global LAN qualifiers named the Pinnacle Open, started this morning. With the results in, fans now know the matchups for each group’s elimation and deicder …
Shattered Web’s final mission week returns to Kasbah for finale
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Shattered Web is slowly coming to an end, and with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s final week of its latest operation, players have some classic challenges to complete. In addition, Valve has included a second cooperative strike with today’s patch that takes players back to the Kasbah to destroy Kreigeld and his virus in “Quarantined, Isolated, Eliminated.” This week’s missions are a mix of the classics, taking queues from previous CSGO Operations. …
Boombl4: “Every time they went for me, I would just kill them”
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
After Na`Vi’s exceptional win against G2 Esports at CSGO’s IEM Katowice 2020, the team sat down to talk about the preparation that went into the tournament, Kirill “BoombI4” Mikhailov’s affinity for SMGs, Egor “flamie” Vasilev’s dominant play, and just how much the win meant to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive star Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev. During the interview, Head Coach Andrey “B1ad3” Gorodenskiy also dished the dirt on just what new addition Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy has brought to …
Na’Vi trounces G2 Esports, wins IEM Katowice 2020 in dominant fashion
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
After Saturday’s semifinals, many expected the grand finals of IEM Katowice 2020 to be a match of epic proportions. In reality, fans got yet another glimpse of what could be the most dangerous Natus Vincere team in history during the team’s 3-0 win against G2 Esports in Poland. Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov must have had whatever Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev had for breakfast yesterday, because the in-game leader for Na`Vi posted a …
Natus Vincere shreds Astralis, faces G2 in IEM Katowice 2020 finals
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Natus Vincere and Astralis squared off in a best-of-three that saw the number one team in the world crumble beneath the crushing weight of a frightening Russian squad. Dust 2 and Nuke were the staging grounds for a defeat that seemingly broke Astralis after the team cruised to the semifinals without dropping a single map. Natus Vincere took the series in two decisive maps and booked their tickets to the …
CSGO just set a new record for number of players in the game
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive hit another milestone this morning, smashing its previous concurrent player count record and setting a new standard for itself with 933,748 concurrent players. Since the StarLadder Berlin Major, Counter-Strike has seen a steady increase in players bolstered by its growing esports scene. While professional teams battle it out for prize pools in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, Valve has taken a renewed interest in its flagship …
kennyS hammers Fnatic, sends G2 to IEM Katowice 2020 finals
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
G2 Esports is headed to the grand finals of IEM Katowice 2020. The fan favorite organization edged out Fnatic in the semifinals with a 2-1 score. The victory put G2 in position to post arguably its best tournament finish to date. G2 Esports got on the board first on Inferno with a clutch defusal by Audric “JaCkz” Jug, but it took a while before either team gained momentum. The two …
Dupreeh: “I’ve never been a fan of the best-of-five format”
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Astralis took to the podium today to talk about their perfect run to the IEM Katowice 2020 semifinals, coach Danny “zonic” Sørensen’s book, and how the absence of Katowice’s crowd is a sad but smart decision from the people in charge of the event. Astralis came into IEM Katowice after bombing out of BLAST Premier’s group B while losing to both Complexity and Natus Vincere by a combined map score of …
Team Liquid out of IEM Katowice 2020 after loss to Natus Vincere
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Natus Vincere sent North American squad Team Liquid home from IEM Katowice 2020. Liquid came up short against the CIS side, losing the series 2-0 and landing in sixth place at the event. Natus Vincere, Team Liquid, and Dust 2 historically combine for great games, and this showdown at IEM Katowice 2020 was no different. Denis “electronic” Sharipov came up huge for Natus Vincere in the opening pistol round, but …
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.
