Counter-Strike
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 …
Counter-Strike
Four advanced CSGO commands you need to know to up your game
M Alzamora
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 …
Counter-Strike
CLG’s missharvey talks women in esports and sexism in CSGO
Olivia Richman
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 …
Counter-Strike
Quick tips and guides for Shattered Web Week 4 missions
M Alzamora
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 …
Counter-Strike
MiBR drops LUCAS1, adds meyern ahead of CS Summit 5
M Alzamora
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. …
Counter-Strike
Cloud9 is interested in ATK CSGO roster, according to reports
M Alzamora
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 …
Astralis’ Xyp9x, k0nfig talk ghosting and crowd impact on events
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike features a long history of excited fans cheering on players live. Several incidents with these excitable crowds over the years have brought one issue to the forefront of the CSGO community time and time again. The problem is that fans like to see their team win. It’s an understandable feeling, one that every sports fan can identify with. Unlike in most traditional sports, however, fan support in CSGO can …
2020 Service Medal revealed as winter patch comes to CSGO
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
When Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players are throwing snowballs more than they’re throwing smoke grenades, it’s officially December in CSGO. Valve released the annual holiday patch on December 9, and it’s filled with everything that a Counter-Strike holiday update is usually filled with a few small exceptions. The map’s chickens have their Christmas sweaters on once again, it’s snowing in the main menu, and there are piles of snowballs stacked around …
woxic out for CS Summit, NaToSaphiX to stand in for mousesports
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Mousesports revealed this morning that their star AWPer, Özgür “woxic” Eker, will not attend the upcoming CS Summit 5 tournament in Los Angeles, California due to visa issues in an official tweet. The team also revealed that Niels Christian “NaToSaphiX” Sillassen will stand in for woxic this weekend during CS Summit 5. This is an unlucky turn of events for mousesports, especially after woxic’s stellar performance during the December 8 grand final of ESL Pro League Season …
Virtus.pro to acquire AVANGAR CSGO roster, reports indicate
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Reports point towards legendary Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team Virtus.pro purchasing AVANGAR’s roster in its entirety. Virtus.pro is in the latter stages of purchasing AVANGAR’s CSGO roster wholesale, according to a report from DBLTP’s Jarek “Dekay” Lewis. The AVANGAR organization currently fields an international team of players which includes a CSGO Major winner in Dauren “AdreN” Kystaubayev and the aggressive AWPer Dzhami “Jame” Ali. AVANGAR has existed since 2017, but burst onto the international CSGO …
s0m leaves Envy for Gen.G, sicK stands in for IEM Katowice qualifiers
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Team Envy has announced the transfer of Sam “s0m” Oh to Gen.G. In an official tweet from the organization, Envy announced that s0m’s transfer to Gen.G Esports’ Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team has been finalized. The 17-year-old player joins three other players on Gen.G’s first-ever CSGO roster. Gen.G announced the signing on Twitter while also revealing that Complexity Gaming rifler Hunter “SicK” Mims would stand in for the new team at the upcoming IEM Katowice North American …
Mousesports win ESL Pro League Season 10 with sweep of Fnatic
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
The ESL Pro League Season 10 Finals wrapped up with a showdown between Fnatic and mousesports. The grand finals matchup that few were expecting took a surprising turn of its own, as mousesports scored a quick, clean, 3-0 victory to take home the top prize. The match could’ve gone either way in theory, but Fnatic started slowly and never really hit a higher gear. Mousesports was composed both emotionally and strategically, and …
shroud down to one third of his viewers since moving to Mixer
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
Stream Metrics has just revealed that popular streamer Michael “shroud” Grzesiek has seen a drastic decline in viewership since he moved to Mixer at the end of October. The tweet declared that their own data shows shroud’s livestream audience in November was one third the size of his Twitch reach in October when it came to US viewership. In fact, shroud’s viewership on Twitch before moving platforms was 1.62 times larger …
Fnatic, mousesports face off for ESL Pro League Season 10 championship
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
After a wild week of action, the ESL Pro League’s Season 10 grand final is less than a day away. Surprisingly, the final showdown won’t feature top teams Team Liquid or Astralis. Instead, Fnatic and mousesports will face off in a best-of-five where brains will meet brawn for the lion’s share of a $600,000 prize pool. Fnatic and mousesports had oddly similar runs in the event. In an odd coincidence, both teams struggled …
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.
