Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Former Fnatic coach Jumpy finds new home, joins North
Nina Forneloza
Danish Counter-Strike: Global Offensive organization North has brought in Jimmy “Jumpy” Berndtsson as its new head coach. Jumpy will replace outgoing coach Torbjørn “mithR” Nyborg, who has coached North for the past year. In a statement on the North website, Jumpy stated he is excited by the potential within the team: “I’m super excited about the opportunity to come and coach a team like North. With the amount of inherent …
Counter-Strike
FLASHPOINT restarts EU qualifier, had banned tech pauses
M Alzamora
FACEIT has issued a statement regarding the restarting of the second FLASHPOINT European open qualifier and its lack of technical pauses, amending its rules to ensure that teams have a fair chance to compete. Trouble started when Engin “MAJ3R” Küpeli and Turkey5 played seven rounds without one of their players in FLASHPOINT’s European qualifiers due to a technical issue. Unfortunately for Turkey5, FACEIT had disabled the ability to use technical pauses for the event. …
Counter-Strike
Leaks reveal last 3 weeks of Operation Shattered Web missions
M Alzamora
There are some interesting tidbits buried deep inside the code for Counter-Strike Global Offensive. Some are small, like how CSGO’s volume settings reset after equipping a Music Kit. Some are bigger, like the names and objectives for the next two weeks of Operation Shattered Web. Barring sudden changes from Valve, CSGO players can plot out how they want to tackle the final three weeks of Operation Shattered Web. Starting with …
Counter-Strike
Shattered Web Week 13 brings big explosions and shields to CSGO
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s Week 13 may be best used as a distraction from work, cleaning the kitchen, or finishing up some errands. It’s a laundry list of tasks to be crossed off. Instead of breaking away from the past weeks’ “kill things” challenges by making increasing the chance for clever tactics, Valve has opted for the “grind it out” route. WTB Earplugs: Get 5 kills with the Negev In Casual: …
Counter-Strike
This is how to check if people you played with in CSGO have VAC bans
M Alzamora
Almost every player has run into a cheater in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, whether they know it or not. The problem is so widespread that Valve’s anti-cheat routinely bans thousands of players each day. With cheats for CSGO so widespread, there’s an easy way to check your own match history players that have bans on their account, and you don’t have to upload match codes to do it. A plugin called …
Counter-Strike
CSGO breaks all-time record for highest concurrent player count
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive broke its own concurrent player count record on February 8 with 876,575 players. The previous record was set in April 2016 during the MLG Columbus Major, which hit a peak of 850,485 players. While breaking the record is big news for Valve’s flagship shooter, it’s not unexpected. CSGO has steadily grown since August 2019, in large part thanks to the introduction of Operation Shattered Web. Operation Shattered …
Counter-Strike
Agent skins will be allowed at ESL One Rio Major, says CSPPA
M Alzamora
The Counter-Strike Professional Players’ Association revealed today that players at the game’s upcoming ESL One Rio Major will be allowed to use CSGO’s new character models. The models were a controversial subject in competitive play in 2019 due to the different models serving as camouflage in some areas.. In an odd exchange, professional player Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer tweeted at the CSPPA asking for clarification on the model situation for the upcoming …
Counter-Strike
CSGO legends TaZ and NEO are coming back to form new Polish team
Olivia Richman
Filip “NEO” Kubski and Wiktor “TaZ” Wojitas are forming a new Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team. Very few details about the new team have been revealed thus far, but NEO and TaZ are reportedly already recruiting in hopes of filling their roster with the “most talented and promising players in the Polish CSGO scene.” In a statement, TaZ discussed how his long history with NEO was paramount to the new team’s …
Ex6TenZ retires after 15-year CSGO career, eyes coaching role
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Kevin “Ex6TenZ” Droolans announced his retirement from professional Counter-Strike yesterday through a Twitlonger. His retirement makes him the second professional Frech player to retire in less than a week. On February 3, Edouard “SmithZz” Dubourdeaux decided to hang up his hat. Players should be intimately familiar with Ex6TenZ from his long time in the scene and the well-known organizations that he captained over the years. These include some of the biggest …
Valve will ban reported players from chat after new CSGO patch
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players sometimes run into cheaters, hackers, griefers, and even plain jerks while playing online. For new players learning how to play Counter-Strike, the toxicity is an immediate reason to walk away. It’s common to join a casual server and be blasted with generally poor behavior. Today, Valve finally announced that they’re going to work to correct the problem. A blog post on the official Counter-Strike: Global Offensive …
Devilwalk on GODSENT and how to keep a rising team from falling
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
WIN.gg sat down with GODSENT Counter-Strike: Global Offensive head coach and former professional player Jonatan “Devilwalk” Lundberg this week at the GG.BET ICE Challenge to talk about GODSENT’s recent successes, stumbles, and the tools professional teams use when they get ready to compete. Devilwalk, a CSGO legend in his own right, brings over ten years of experience on both sides of the keyboard. Under his care, GODSENT won Season 2 of the …
GODSENT explains why it’s going to ESL Pro League, not B Site
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
In an exclusive interview with WIN.gg, GODSENT CEO Ludwig Sandgren confirmed that the team would participate in ESL Pro League’s Season 11 over B Site, now announced as Flashpoint. Sandgren emphasized that GODSENT was only given the option to join B Site’s Flashpoint league very recently, opening questions as to whether Flashpoint is having trouble filling its set number of franchised team slots. Sandgren also offered his opinion on what …
CSGO Shattered Web Week 12 Mission Guide: Glocks, drones, and MVPs
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Shattered Web’s week 12 missions and challenges are live on the Counter-Strike Global Offensive client right now, and there are some fun missions hidden among the ones fans have seen before. Like always, there are six missions included this week. The normal six stars are also up for grabs. Here’s the list of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s missions for Week 12 of Shattered Web. Down and to the Right: “Get 5 …
Where to save CSGO config files and how to find your SteamID
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
It’s the one thing that every Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player from Silver to FPL has in common. Despite the community’s obsession with configs, autoexecs, and pro player settings, no one can ever remember where they’re saved. “Where do I save my config file, again?” has been uttered hundreds of thousands of times. Maybe millions. Valve added to the confusion when they changed the default location some time ago, but WIN.gg …
Half-Life: Alyx is poised to bring big new content to CSGO
M Alzamora
News
The world collectively lost their minds when Valve announced the new installment in its Half-Life franchise in November 2019. The game is exclusive to VR, and Valve has announced that for anyone who purchases its Index VR headset or hardware before Half-Life: Alyx’s release in March will receive exclusive content. Index owners get Alyx for free, but Valve has listed more bonus content that will come with the game for …
Real Madrid star Gareth Bale forms new esports organization
Nina Forneloza
Counter-Strike
Real Madrid star and International soccer icon Gareth Bale has launched a new esports organization called Ellevens Esports in partnership with 38 Entertainment Group. 38 Entertainment Group is an esports management company co-founded by entrepreneur Jonathan Kark and former professional soccer player Larry Cohen. The name Ellevens is a reference to Bale’s number 11 jersey. Bale made the announcement on Twitter. This new organization is aiming to unearth new and …
FaZe Clan receives huge $22.7 million investment loan
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
FaZe Clan has entered into a convertible loan facility worth $22.7 million. A convertible loan is a short-term debt that converts into equity. In FaZe Clan’s case, it’s at a pre-money equity valuation of $220 million. Usually, a convertible loan is converted during the next investment round. A Canadian investment bank, Canaccord Genuity, acted as the exclusive financial advisor for the immense loan. The unnamed lender was also given a …
SmithZz announces retirement as CSGO’s old guard fades away
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Edouard “SmithZz” Dubourdeaux announced his retirement from professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive today in a post on his official Twitter account, but his withdrawal feels more authentic than others. In a Twitlonger titled “New beginnings,” the French player revealed that he has stepped back from competitive play and will take on a career in streaming as his next challenge. SmithZz’s career features an expansive list of teams and tournament wins, including a …
The best smokes and flashes after new Dust 2 skybox changes
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
In a surprise update, Valve opened up Dust 2’s B site to new executes by letting players throw utility into the bombsite from upper tunnels. After years of community requests, the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive developer has finally made it possible for the T side to execute onto B just like they would most any other site in the game. While Valve has made a Dust 2 B site execute possible, …
mousesports honors Kobe Bryant with custom jerseys at ICE event
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Counter-Strike
As mousesports climbs the ladder of the 2020 ICE Challenge, the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team took a moment to commemorate Kobe Bryant, a recently deceased NBA player. Mousesports’ CSGO team advanced to the 2020 ICE Challenge semifinals after defeating Virtus.Pro 2-0 earlier today. Ahead of the game, mousesports took a 2-0 victory against MAD Lions for the spot in the Group A winners’ match, and now the team is waiting …
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.
