Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Zyw0o beats s1mple to become the top-ranked player of 2019
M Alzamora
Team Vitality member Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut is the number one player in HLTV’s rankings for 2019. ZywOo beat out Natus Vincere’s Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev for the number one spot. The 19-year-old French player impressed throughout 2019, growing into a dangerous presence on any server. Since he joined Team Vitality in October of 2018, ZywOo helped Vitality win DreamHack Open Atlanta 2018, Charleroi Esports 2019, cs_summit 4, and ECS Season 7. ZywOo and …
Counter-Strike
CR4ZY sends roster, ESL One Rio Major spot to c0ntact Gaming
Steven Rondina
The previously rumored transfer of CR4ZY’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster has turned out to be true. The organization released a statement confirming that its successful squad is being sent to c0ntact Gaming. “My first reaction was ‘there’s no way this is happening again.’ However, I also realized the opportunity for the players and decided this would be the best for them. I would never do anything to stop them from …
Counter-Strike
DreamHack Open Anaheim qualifiers includes Gen.G, Complexity
M Alzamora
DreamHack has revealed the opening matchups for the 2020 DreamHack Open Anaheim closed qualifiers. With only three total spots up for grabs, 16 teams will go head-to-head for the chance to compete in California. North, MiBR, ENCE, and FURIA Esports received direct invitations to the event. Another team, Endpoint, earned the chance to compete through an ESL-run regional tournament. Team Heroic to win the DreamHack Open Anaheim European qualifiers. Heroic will kick off …
Counter-Strike
Singularity shorthanded for DreamHack Open Anaheim qualifiers
M Alzamora
Team Singularity announced the release of Will “dazzLe” Loafman and Jordan “Zellsis” Montemurro. This leaves the team shorthanded ahead of its DreamHack Open Anaheim closed qualifier match against Riot Squad. The team made the announcement on Twitter. An official blog post covered the subject in more detail, attributing the release of the players to “dynamics.” “We have not been able to grind the results we would have liked to accomplish, …
Counter-Strike
FACEIT scraps ECS and partners with B Site, reports say
M Alzamora
Reports say that FACEIT will no longer put on its ECS tournament series and will instead partner with B Site. FACEIT will no longer run its tournament circuit ECS, and will instead throw its hat in the ring with the North American league codenamed B site, according to a report from DBLTAP. FACEIT’s ECS was the main competitor to ESL’s ESL Pro League, now part of the ESL’s larger tournament …
Counter-Strike
The best T side strats and grenades for Shortdust in CSGO Wingman
M Alzamora
Shortdust is one of the most popular maps in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and it’s an easy map to win with the right strategies and grenades. The miniature version of CSGO’s Dust restricts players to a central site, but much of the action takes place around the outside of the map. The site itself has four entrances, and each side has two that favor their starting spawns. Winning Wingman matches on …
Counter-Strike
Fnatic releases Xizt as Ninjas in Pyjamas reunion rumors loom
M Alzamora
Fnatic has announced the departure of Richard “xizt” Landström. The news was revealed on the organization’s Twitter account. This continues to add credibility to rumors of a reunion of the 2014 Ninjas in Pyjamas Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster under the Dignitas umbrella. Dignitas has been linked to a plan to acquire most of the players from the legendary lineup, including Adam “friberg” Friberg, Christopher “GeT_RiGhT’ Alesund, Patrik “f0rest” Lindberg, and xizt Fnatic originally benched xizt alongside Simon …
Counter-Strike
Fugly’s benching from Team Envy leads to huge drama on Twitter
M Alzamora
Jacob “Fugly” Medina released a tell-all Twitter post on his time with Team Envy and it paints an unflattering picture for the organization. Included in the story are allegations of a number of internal issues with the company, especially in regards to the structure of its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team. Fugly’s post details an organization with deep-seated communication troubles and serious issues with inner turmoil. Fugly puts the majority of the blame …
Natus Vincere may bench GuardiaN after poor performances
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
After four months of less than desirable performances, Ladislav “GuardiaN” Kovacs might be benched by Natus Vincere. According to a report from 1pv.fr, Na’Vi Junior player Rodion “fear” Smyk has been playing in GuardiaN’s place during recent practice sessions. With Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev most likely taking back the AWP role, Na’Vi would have to find a new rifler. This isn’t a permanent change, however, and the Ukranian Counter-Strike: Global Offensive …
CSPPA announces CSGO partnership with ESL and DreamHack
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
The Counter-Strike Professional Players Association has announced a partnership with ESL and DreamHack that they say will lead to a “participation framework” between the players and the tournament organizers. The partnership covers a wide array of subjects ranging from involvement in revenue to player contracts. The official announcement contains little in the way of specific detail, merely announcing that a framework is forthcoming but has yet to be established. The …
Nordavind adds NaToSaphiX and HS to complete CSGO roster
M Alzamora
News
Norwegian esports organization Nordavind has completed its new Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster. Nordavind adds two players that have floated from team to team over the past several months in Niels “NaToSaphiX” Sillassen and Kevin “HS” Tarn. The organization made the announcement on its official Twitter account. The announcement comes days after the release of Håkon “hallzerk” Fjærli, who was previously rumored to be joining Dignitas alongside four members of the legendary 2014 Ninjas in Pyjamas roster. Though Dignitas has …
Cloud9 early favorites at DreamHack Open Leipzig CSGO tournament
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s DreamHack Open Leipzig 2020 is coming, and it offers teams a chance to receive an automatic invite to DreamHack Masters Jönköping 2020. It also gives viewers the chance to see some up-and-coming teams face off ahead of IEM Katowice 2020. The list of teams competing in Leipzig includes BIG, Cloud9, North, Renegades, Virtus.pro, Heroic, MAD Lions, and Sprout. The tournament should be an interesting test for the majority …
Shattered Web Week 9 missions release, require some skilled play
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s week nine challenges are here and are asking players to have a pretty good day in order to finish them all. Week nine’s “…Just Having a Good Day” is all about precision and ending up on top of the competition. If players just want to earn their six stars for their rewards and move on, it’s an easy week to do so. There are two three-star challenges …
Latest CSGO patch updates Studio, fixes Shattered Web bugs
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Big changes came to Studio in yesterday’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive update and the developers decided to take a shot at some bugs that have been around since the start of Operation Shattered Web. Yesterday’s CSGO update brought major changes to Defusal Group Sigma map Studio. Valve has updated the game to the current workshop version, leading to a vastly different take on middle than players are used to. Both spawns, …
Valve opens a new CSGO store in-game with the latest update
M Alzamora
News
In today’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive update, Valve added a search bar to the coupon section of the main menu, turning the usual four random coupons into a searchable shop of items, opening an in-game CSGO store that bypasses the Steam Market completely. Valve now sells almost every CSGO sticker, capsule, graffiti box, and pin set that was available in the coupon section in a searchable database, effectively turning that section …
CR4ZY reportedly sell CSGO team to unnamed NA organization
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
CR4ZY might be getting out of the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive game. According to a report by HLTV, CR4ZY has agreed to terms on a transfer of its roster to an unnamed North American organization. The current lineup includes the following players: Nestor “LETN1” Tanić Rokas “EspiranTo” Milasauskas Otto “ottoNd” Sihvo Georgi “SHiPZ” Grigorov Luka “emi” Vuković After a few years as a decent but unremarkable team, the organization formerly known …
IEM Katowice 2020 EU Qualifiers see FaZe, G2, and MAD Lions earn spots
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Finishing third after favorites FaZe Clan and G2 Esports, MAD Lions snatched the final European slot for IEM Katowice 2020 from ENCE with a 2-0 win. Despite finishing third, MAD Lions put on the strongest performance of the qualifier. Most would think that ESL’s decision to exclude FaZe and G2 from the 10 direct invitees would have irritated both teams, especially FaZe. Widely regarded as a top-10 team, FaZe’s spot was …
Tricked signs fresh roster after MAD Lions sale in November
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Tricked Esport announced its new team roster today after moving its previous set of players to OverActive Media’s MAD Lions team. In an official press release from the organization, Tricked Esport announced the signing of its new Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster. The team has brought in a young team to replace their old roster led Nicolai “HUNDEN” Petersen. Tricked sold that roster to the MAD Lions organization in late November. As …
CSGO has 5 different ways to throw grenades, here’s how to use them
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Grenades are a massive part of Counter-Strike Global Offensive and learning how to use them is tough at first. They change direction depending on how the player is moving when they throw them. They’ll bounce in completely different directions with minor changes in angles. Worst of all, they have a habit of bouncing back into the player’s face. The worst part is that CSGO doesn’t tell new players exactly how …
CSGO nears all-time player record as Valve pushes monetization
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive reached its highest average player count since March 26, 2016, pulling in over 840,000 players and threatening March 2016’s record of 855,485. CSGO’s sudden surge in popularity is explained by several factors, with most stemming from Valve’s actions surrounding the game that began nearly two years ago. The changes ranged from a massive economic overhaul to two questionable balance decisions that took months to revert. Shattered …
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.
