Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Shattered Web weekly missions leak, Scarlxrd drops CSGO music kit
M Alzamora
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 …
Counter-Strike
ropz leads mousesports to CS Summit 5 win with two stand-ins
M Alzamora
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 …
Counter-Strike
Upcoming Brazilian CSGO player brutt dies at just 19 years old
Steven Rondina
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 …
Counter-Strike
Virtus.pro signs AVANGAR hours after they lose at CS Summit 5
M Alzamora
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 …
Counter-Strike
CSGO devs and Templar Assassin hint at Aztec, Dust map returns
M Alzamora
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 …
Counter-Strike
OG looking average at CS Summit 5 after series against G2 Esports
Steven Rondina
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 …
Counter-Strike
The World According to Jeff Goldblum to showcase CSGO, esports
M Alzamora
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
Subroza blasts Cloud9, Jack responds and talks C9’s CSGO future
Steven Rondina
Yassine “Subroza”‘ Taoufik joining Cloud9 on a trial basis seemed like a golden opportunity when it was first announced. The player had competed at a high level in North America’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive scene, but was set up to join one of esports’ top brands at a time when its CSGO team had seemingly settled into having a strong core. But shortly after his first event with the team, esports …
Four advanced CSGO commands you need to know to up your game
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
The console is a powerful tool in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. It’s capable of basic things like changing a player’s crosshair, but it can also do much more than that. From jump throw binds for smoke grenades to removing those distracting blood spatters and bullet holes, the console is a tool that good players need to know inside and out. Here are some advanced commands, taken from the Global Elites of …
NiP impress at BLAST Global Finals, but lose to Astralis 2-0
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Despite an early string of losses on Train, the Ninjas in Pyjamas put up a serious fight against the best team in the world in the BLAST Pro Series Global Finals. Both NiP and Astralis came into the match looking for the grand final spot, but the Ninjas played like they had nothing to lose. After digging an early hole on train, Ninjas in Pyjamas ran it back with six …
Evil Geniuses debut new logo as part of big esports expansion
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Evil Geniuses’ brand position has changed drastically in a short time, and today it has a brand new logo to go along with EG CEO Nicole Lapointe Jameson’s vision for the brand. In the past four months, the public has seen Evil Geniuses add two of the world’s largest esports games to its portfolio. Today, it made another drastic change. After 20 years, Evil Geniuses unveiled a total brand redesign …
NiP and Astralis off to quick starts at BLAST Global Finals
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Ninjas in Pyjamas defeated FaZe Clan 2-0 today, while Astralis easily took down Liquid. After a year’s worth of best-of-ones, fans finally saw two real series on the opening day of the BLAST Pro Series Global Finals. The tournament showcased a Ninjas in Pyjamas team that beat the odds by taking down FaZe Clan in just two maps. Astralis versus Team Liquid wasn’t as competitive as most had hoped, as …
CLG’s missharvey talks women in esports and sexism in CSGO
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
Professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player Stephanie “missharvey” Harvey has been part of the esports industry since 2003, “before it was even called esports,” she joked. Missharvey has won five Women’s Electronic Sports World Cup titles, two of which were with CLG Red, where she was an original member. Being around the esports industry this long, missharvey has grown to love the community while also recognizing what was missing: Women. Whether …
Quick tips and guides for Shattered Web Week 4 missions
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s week four Shattered Web missions are a sniper’s paradise, but we’ve still got some quick tips that will help the stars roll in. Shattered Web’s week four operation missions are all focused around the SSG 08 Scout and the AWP. While there’s a MAG-7 thrown in the mix for this week’s Guardian mission, snipers are king. This week will be fairly simple for players familiar with the …
MiBR drops LUCAS1, adds meyern ahead of CS Summit 5
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
MiBR announced the signing of Sharks Esports player Ignacio “meyern” Meyer in a video on the organization’s official Twitter account. The signing comes a week after rumors surfaced that the Brazillian team was scouting him as a replacement for Lucas “LUCAS1” Teles. According to another tweet from MiBR, LUCAS1 is no longer on the roster. It is not clear whether he is a free agent or has been benched from the team. …
Cloud9 is interested in ATK CSGO roster, according to reports
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Cloud9 is reportedly considering making an offer on the ATK Counter-Strike Global Offensive roster just days after shipping its remaining CSGO players to Gen.G. North American organization Cloud9 is considering the ATK CSGO roster as a potential replacement for its own recently departed players according to a report by DBLTAP. Cloud9 sent Timothy “autimatic” Ta, Damian “daps” Steele, and Kenneth “koosta” Suen to Gen.G on December 6. Some fans worried that …
ESL One Rio will be the first CSGO Major in Brazil and of 2020
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Tournament organizer ESL announced the first ESL One Rio Major tournament this morning in an official press release. ESL revealed the rumored ESL One Rio Major this morning in an official press release and through a teaser trailer for the tournament on Twitter. ESL One Rio will be the first CSGO Major of 2020. According to the press release, the LAN portion of the event will take place from May …
Furia Esports’ HEN1 out of CS Summit 5 due to visa, guerri in
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Another late roster change is shaking up CS Summit 5. Furia Esports has announced that visa issues will prevent Henrique “HEN1” Teles from competing at the event. In his stead, Furia coach Nicholas “guerri” Nogueira will come off the bench to fill in with the team. “Unfortunately, we can’t have our important player HEN1 at the CS_Summit. The athlete is in Brazil renewing his visa,” Furia stated on Twitter. “In …
summit1g apologizes to Sweet Anita for his girlfriend’s comments
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
Twitch personality Sweet Anita was in the spotlight earlier this week after she was called out by another streamer for yelling racial slurs and anti-semetic statements. Some agreed with the streamer, wondering why Sweet Anita was yet to be suspended from the platform for using racial epithets when other streamers saw harsh punishments for the same explitives. The difference? Sweet Anita has Tourettes syndrome, which causes her to have uncontrollable tics. …
Christmas comes early for CSGO snipers in Shattered Web week 4
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Operation Shattered Web continues on with the start of week four and it’s going to delight any snipers out there. The latest roundup of missions revolves around the AWP and the SSG 08 rifles. The two weapons are used in each of the missions, which allow players to earn up to six total stars. The stars earn credit towards the higher value rewards from Shattered Web, most notably the agent …
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.
