Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
shroud says more streamers to leave Twitch as streaming changes
Olivia Richman
When Tyler “Ninja” Blevins made the move to Mixer in August of 2019, fellow streamer Michael “shroud” Grzesiek had described the transition as “the best move he ever made.” And it appears that shroud meant it, because the former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro decided to leave Twitch himself at the end of October. On November 4, Jack “CouRage” Dunlop announced that he would be streaming on YouTube instead of Twitch, and shroud …
Counter-Strike
Gen.G reportedly targeting Autimatic, daps for new CSGO team
M Alzamora
Reports are swirling that Gen.G is looking to enter Counter-Strike: Global Offensive esports and that the organization wants to make that a reality by signing players from CR4ZY and Cloud9. According to dbltap.com, Gen.G is actively pursuing Cloud9’s Timothy “autimatic” Ta and Damian “daps” Steele. The report also mentions that Gen.G has been in talks with Georgi “SHiPZ” Grigorov of CR4ZY. For Cloud9, the moves make little sense from the …
Counter-Strike
Astralis wins wild, wacky BLAST Stand-Off against Natus Vincere
M Alzamora
Astralis may not have won BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen, but they did come out on top of the BLAST Stand-Off showmatch. The showmatch is an honored tradition of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournaments, with most major organizers hosting an exhibition match featuring professional players, casters, and local favorites. These normally take the form of best-of-ones on standard maps, but BLAST Pro Series has found a different format. Instead of patchwork teams …
Counter-Strike
s1mple leaks location of next CSGO major in video with Neymar
Steven Rondina
Details have been scarce regarding the next Counter-Strike: Global Offensive major, but a big detail may have just been leaked. According to Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev, the next major will take place in Brazil. The Natus Vincere star let it slip during an Instagram video with soccer star Neymar. “There’s some info, that next major will be in Brazil. I hope you will go and enjoy it,” s1mple said. Though the …
Counter-Strike
EG, Astralis, Liquid, Fnatic all set for ECS Season 8 Finals
M Alzamora
Evil Geniuses and Astralis are two of the eight elite teams set to face off against each other at the FACEIT ECS Season 8 Finals in Arlington, Texas. AVANAGAR, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Astralis, Fnatic, Sharks Esports, Evil Geniuses, Team Liquid, and MIBR are all locked in for the finals after ECS’ five-week circuit. The series started in September with each region slowly locking in teams for the live finals in …
Counter-Strike
Astralis and Team Liquid headline ESL Pro League final teams
M Alzamora
ESL has announced the second round of groups across all four Pro League regions. Round two will will determine the final eight spots at the ESL Pro League Finals in Odense for the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Oceana Four teams from both Europe and the Americas already have their slots secured for the finals. The second set of eight teams will include four more teams from Europe, along with two …
Counter-Strike
CSGO key update likely to shake up the entire Steam economy
Nina Forneloza
The latest Counter-Strike: Global Offensive patch targeted third-party services that trade skins and keys, but everyone that uses Steam will likely feel its effects. Within CSGO, keys can be purchased to open loot boxes that may contain valuable skins. That inherent value made keys the most liquid asset within the larger Steam marketplace, transforming them into something of a currency. This CSGO update ended players’ ability to trade or resell …
Counter-Strike
shroud back on Mixer after emergency room trip for back pain
Olivia Richman
Things were looking quite positive for Michael “shroud” Grzesiek after his switch to Mixer. He got a touching farewell video from Twitch along with some great numbers on his first night at the new streaming platform. Unfortunately, shroud has recently run into a few health issues. A few days ago, shroud went to an urgent care clinic after some serious back pain. In response, his doctor had told him to rest. …
Windigo Gaming announces closure, cites lack of event payouts
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive organization Windigo Gaming has announced that it will shut down according to a Reddit post from the organization’s co-owner Maksym Bednarskyi. Bednarskyi says that the organization hasn’t received prize money from Windigo’s placing in WESG. Windigo’s co-owner is also claiming that they haven’t been paid ESL Pro League’s Season 9 or 10 prize money, nor their winnings from MocheXL. Windigo Gaming won $6K from ESL Pro League …
These are the next big League, CSGO, Dota 2 esports tournaments
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Counter-Strike
With the League of Legends 2019 World Championship coming to a close, Dota 2’s The International 2019 having been played in August, and both Counter-Strike: Global Offensive majors for 2019 finished, this year has seen its esports tournaments peak. But new seasons are on the horizon, with many upcoming top-tier tournaments still lying ahead. After Worlds 2019 wraps up on November 10, professional League of Legends players will rest until 2020. …
The EG roster’s run from NRG to the number one rank in CSGO
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Evil Geniuses is now ranked world number one in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive after three solid months of performances. They leapfrogged both Team Liquid and Astralis to take the top spot after their wins at ESL One New York and StarSeries & i-League Season 8. Starting with the StarLadder Berlin Major, EG has improved exponentially in each tournament. The need for comebacks has dwindled while close wins have become blowouts. The …
Everything to know about BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
RFRSH Entertainment has revealed the scheduled matchups for this weekend’s BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen tournament. Six of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s most recognizable teams will be in attendance, and the final regular season BLAST event should shed some light on how these teams will perform in the upcoming gamut of tournaments in the winter season. BLAST’s unique format is not changing for the showdown in Copenhagen. Teams will all play in …
Swole Patrol, Nemiga Gaming start WINNERS League Season 3 strong
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
WINNERS League Season 3 has finally arrived. With that, fans can watch some of the hottest up-and-coming teams in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive face off. Some of them, like the New England Whalers, are looking to prove themselves in the NA division as they enter the next tier of CSGO competition. Others, like returning champions Swole Patrol, are looking to reestablish themselves as serious threats with a new roster. The situation …
Twitch shares tribute to shroud as streamer heads to Mixer
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
Many were shocked when popular streamer Michael “shroud” Grzesiek announced he was switching to Mixer last week. So far, the move has been a positive one for the former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro. His first new streams saw big numbers, and he received a lot of support from fellow Mixer star Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, who made the move himself in August. Twitch continued spreading the good vibes by releasing a …
Breaking down the breakdown between TenZ and Cloud9
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is meant to be a fun game, even at its highest levels of play. But some recent drama at Cloud9 has made clear that no matter how fun CS:GO may be, the high stakes can make it difficult for top players to get along. For fans, it’s a little easier. Playing casual games can be relaxing, there are opportuntiies for opening cases on platforms like this one …
GeT_RiGhT joins mousesports as sub, plays first post-NiP match
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Ex-Ninjas in Pyjamas star Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund stepped in to help out fellow Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team Mousesports’ today when Robin “ropz” Kool was unable to play in the team’s scheduled ECS match against Virtus.pro. According to a tweet from ropz, he was forced out of the game due to “travel complications,” necessitating a stand-in for today’s match against VP. This came alongside a photo finish for in-game leader Finn …
CSGO keys no longer tradable, sellable after latest update
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
The latest Counter-Strike: Global Offensive update is going to shake up the game’s economy in a big way. The latest patch is restricting players’ ability to trade and resell keys. Crate keys have functionally worked as a form of currency across the entire Steam marketplace, serving as the most liquid asset available on the platform. According to Valve, this fact hasn’t been lost on scammers and other ne’er do wells …
Fnatic set to join EG, Vitality, and more at EPICENTER Moscow
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
EPICENTER has unveiled another team directly invited to the upcoming EPICENTER Moscow event, naming Fnatic as the fifth team to receive a direct invite to the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament taking place in December. Fnatic joins Natus Vincere, AVANGAR, Evil Geniuses, and Team Vitality as squads that will skip the open qualifiers and instead be seeded directly into the $500K tournament. The European Open qualifiers for EPICENTER Moscow will get …
Report indicates Complexity to replace dephh with k0nfig
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
According to a report from French esports news site 1pv.fr, Complexity Gaming is in the early stages of replacing longtime player Rory “dephh” Jackson with Denmark’s Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke. Dephh is currently the longest-tenured player on the Complexity roster, having joined in 2016 and captained several iterations of the organization’s CSGO squads. k0nfig has spent time with several teams since his split with North in February 2018. The unconfirmed rumor …
Evil Geniuses sweep Fnatic, win StarSeries Season 8
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Evil Geniuses solidified their top-five ranking this weekend by winning StarSeries & i-League CS:GO Season 8, defeating Fnatic in the grand finals in just two maps. EG’s firepower was simply too much for Fnatic to handle, even as the Swedish team was coming off a statement win at DreamHack Masters Malmӧ earlier this month. The victory restores some faith in the North American organization, especially after their own rough performance …
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.
