Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Vitality, mousesports favorites for EPICENTER grand finals
M Alzamora
Tomorrow in Moscow, Team Vitality and Heroic will go head to head. This is followed by mousesports taking on Evil Geniuses. Both matches will determine the contestants in the EPICENTER 2019 grand finals. The matchups are intriguing on their own merits. Team Vitality hasn’t played in a tournament since November’s IEM Beijing, placing fourth. In theory, that sounds like a decent result. In reality, beating out TYLOO, ViCi Gaming, and ENCE …
Counter-Strike
Brehze’s visa issues at EPICENTER shows CSGO schedule problems
M Alzamora
Visa issues are nothing new for professional esports, standing as a constant irritation for tournament organizers and organizations alike as they try and keep up with the hectic, global competitive schedule. But in the span of just two weeks, irritation has given way to absurdity as CSGO has seen major competitors forced to use stand-ins for large tournaments. Vincent “Brehze” Cayonte of Evil Geniuses was forced to miss two matches …
Counter-Strike
CSGO update changes operation cards, adds Agent sleeves
M Alzamora
Today’s CSGO update made a few changes to the Operation Shattered Web mission cards, as well as changing some of the operator’s first-person sleeves. First, the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team focused on Jungle for this week’s patch, making some optimizations and fixing some bugs around the Danger Zone map. Luckily, they also found and fixed an area of the map where players could fall through, meaning that Jungle is a …
News
BLAST Premier groups draw, schedule, and format revealed
M Alzamora
After a live drawing on the BLAST Entertainment Twitch channel, fans now have a breakdown of the groups that BLAST Premier will use throughout the spring series. As of now, fans only know one part of the format. Unlike previous BLAST events, all matches in BLAST Premier will be played as best-of-threes. Group A Team Liquid FaZe Clan MiBR Ninjas in Pyjamas Group B Astralis Natus Vincere Team Vitality Complexity …
Counter-Strike
Use these hot tips for CSGO’s Week 5 Shattered Web missions
M Alzamora
Shattered Web’s Week 5 missions arrived last night and all of them are relatively simple to complete. There are still some quick tips that can help players finish them up, and some of them require some time investment, especially “Take the Long Way Home.” There are a few fun ones this week as well, like “Stop and Smell the Roses,” which turns Dust 2 into a Negev playground. “Feed the …
News
BLAST Premiere, B Site are first steps to exclusive CSGO leagues
M Alzamora
News has been swirling regarding two Counter-Strike: Global Offensive leagues that seem poised to shake up the entire professional scene. BLAST Entertainment announced BLAST Premier, a 12-team tournament circuit with a structure similar to League of Legends. It includes two splits where pre-selected teams accrue points to make it to a World Final. In addition, the winners of both ESL One Rio and the unannounced Fall 2020 Major will be …
Counter-Strike
This 59-year-old CSGO streamer shows serious skills on stream
Olivia Richman
Twitch streamer ithemanturk continues to prove that video games aren’t just for young people. In fact, gamers of all ages should watch out for Turk when it comes to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The 59-year-old streamer recently shared a clip of him popping off in CSGO, and it already has over 20,000 views. In the explosive clip, Turk is on the B bombsite of Mirage, playing T side. As he’s defending …
Counter-Strike
ENCE speaks out on Aleksib’s transfer to OG’s new CSGO team
M Alzamora
ENCE CEO Mika Kuusisto and founder Joona “natu” Leppänen released a video on the official ENCE Youtube channel earlier today, taking the time to explain Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen’s transfer to OG and the team’s silence during this period. According to the organization, ENCE hadn’t wanted to spoil the roster moves of another team, leading to an organizational decision to wait until after OG’s announcement to give context to the situation. According …
MAD Lions revealed as Tricked Esport CSGO team buyer
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
OverActive Media, the parent company of the Splyce brand that withdrew from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in 2018, is getting back into the game in a big way. The organization has acquired the former Tricked Esport roster to compete under the MAD Lions banner. This marks a major step up in MAD Lions’ efforts in CSGO and a major upgrade from the Spanish team it fielded throughout 2019. OverActive Media also owns the Overwatch …
Gen.G makes it to IEM Kaotwice closed qualifier after early loss
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Gen.G’s first outing as a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team didn’t go as planned, but the team came back strong and took home a closed qualifier spot in round two of the IEM Katowice open qualifiers. Gen.G’s jumbled team had everyone worried on the first day of the IEM Katowice open qualifiers when the new team fell to Just for Fun, a team comprised of veteran players who have found themselves …
Shattered Web weekly missions leak, Scarlxrd drops CSGO music kit
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
In today’s patch, Valve added a new music kit while data miners on Reddit have already cracked the list of the next four weeks of Shattered Web missions. Valve added a brand new music kit to CSGO this morning by the British rapper Scarlxrd famous for combining traditional trap music with heavy metal. Here’s a look at his latest track, DISSXLUTIXN, released yesterday. The new music kit is available right now in the …
ropz leads mousesports to CS Summit 5 win with two stand-ins
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Mousesports took home the win at CS Summit 5, defeating G2 Esports 2-1 in spite Finn “karrigan” Andersen’s mid-series departure and the absence of another key player. CS Summit 5 was another great addition to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s most relaxed tournament series, and its conclusion gave fans an impressive look at a mousesports team that performed remarkably well despite missing two of their main players. On the flipside, G2 Esports …
Upcoming Brazilian CSGO player brutt dies at just 19 years old
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Brazilian Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player Matheus “brutt” Queiroz has died. He was 19 years old. Per HLTV, the news was initially reported by Brazilian sports outlet Globo, which was then confirmed by brutt’s team, Imperial Esports. The cause of death has not been reported. “Imperial Esports announces with regret the death of brutt. Matheus had been away from our CSGO team since early December, when he started to feel headaches …
Virtus.pro signs AVANGAR hours after they lose at CS Summit 5
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Virtus.pro officially completed acquisition of the AVANGAR roster early this morning, Long-running esports organization Virtus.pro announced that they have signed the entire AVANGAR roster to contracts this morning. The announcement comes mere hours after the Virtus.pro roster failed to make the finals at CS Summit 5, losing to G2 Esports 2-1, and a little more than a week after a rumor hinted at VP’s intentions. According to a post from …
IOC wants VR sports games in the Olympics, not CSGO or LoL
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
Despite an initial effort to understand the esports industry, the International Olympics Committee ultimately decided they weren’t ready to accept esports into the Olympic Games. IOC president Thomas Bach told the Associated Press that it was because “some egames are not compatible with the Olympic values,” pointing out that certain titles “promoted violence or discrimination.” In an effort to understand esports, members of the IOC took part in a summit on the …
Astralis run over Team Liquid, win BLAST Pro Series Global Finals
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Astralis has added yet another trophy to its mantel. The Danish team won the BLAST Pro Series Global Finals and captured the $350,000 top prize. This ends the 2019 season for the RFRSH-run tournament circuit and sets the stage for what should be a much larger 2020 season. Astralis took the title by defeating longtime rival Team Liquid in the best-of-three grand final. The series opened on Inferno with Astralis …
CSGO update changes colors of two Agents, changes Overpass and Mirage
M Alzamora
News
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s latest patch has changed the coloring of two agent skins from Operation Shattered Web. The CSGO update specifically alters 3rd Commando Company “Two Times” McCoy and the unnamed Seal Team 6 Soldier. The development team said that they had darkened both the agents in order to make them stand out more against certain backgrounds. The agents highlighted in orange are the new versions that were released with today’s …
CSGO devs and Templar Assassin hint at Aztec, Dust map returns
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Legendary Counter-Strike maps Aztec and Dust may soon come back to CSGO according to a theory posted on Reddit, but there’s a sneaky Assassin involved in this mystery no one has noticed. In the past several weeks, tweets from both the official Valve account and the CSGO development team account have included screenshots from the classic CS maps Aztec and Dust. While a Redditor put the tweets together, there’s one …
OG looking average at CS Summit 5 after series against G2 Esports
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
OG is in the middle of its long-awaited entrance into Counter-Strike: Global Offensive at the CS Summit 5. So far, the team isn’t looking especially great. Through two days of competition in the event’s group stage, OG boasts a humble 2-4 record after a few group stage series. The team went 0-2 against mousesports, 1-1 against Virtus.pro, and 1-1 against G2 Esports. The team made its official debut on the …
The World According to Jeff Goldblum to showcase CSGO, esports
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
In a trailer shared by the official DreamHack Twitter account yesterday afternoon, Jeff Goldblum’s latest project, “The World According to Jeff Goldblum,” revealed that the National Geographic program will showcase both Counter-Strike: Global Offense and DreamHack Masters Dallas 2019 convention during an episode. CSGO will play a major role in the episode. While Goldblum talks about esports in general, the preview shows him watching a Counter-Strike match, seemingly surprised at the scale …
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.
