Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Astralis head to ESL One New York finals, beat Team Liquid
Steven Rondina
Astralis has proven that the team is still an absolute force. Team Liquid learned that the hard way as they once again came up short against the Danish squad, losing to them in the semifinals at ESL One New York. While Liquid had the opportunity to undo some of the damage Astralis did to Liquid’s reputation at the major, they instead wound up taking another loss in front of a …
Counter-Strike
Twist officially replaces GeT_RiGhT on NiP CSGO roster, leaves Fnatic
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Simon “twist” Eliasson has officially joined Ninjas in Pyjamas’ Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team. The organization confirmed the signing on its official website. News of twist’s signing came alongside initial reports that NiP was set to split from its longtime leader, Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund, following his decision to step down from the team. NiP confirmed GeT_RiGhT’s departure, but did not initially acknowledge twist’s signing. In its statement, NiP shared a warm …
Counter-Strike
Shox officially joins Vitality, ends lengthy run with G2 Esports
Steven Rondina
After weeks of rumors, Richard “shox” Papillon has officially left G2 Esports for Team Vitality. The Counter-Strike veteran announced the news in a post on Twitter. “It is with unspeakable joy that I take a new course, I hoist the sails towards a horizon tinged with superb tricolour colors since I join a French structure,” Shox said. “The biggest, I join the Team Vitality hive with the fierce desire to …
Counter-Strike
NRG Esports CEO H3cz discusses how to improve CSGO esports
Nina Forneloza
Hector “H3CZ” Rodriguez, the newly minted co-CEO of NRG Esports, has given his thoughts on how he would improve the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive esports scene. Before joining NRG Esports, H3CZ spent over a decade as the CEO of OpTic Gaming. He decided to leave the organization earlier this month and joined up with NRG Esports shortly thereafter. H3CZ discussed CSGO on the latest installment of “The Eavesdrop Podcast” with Counter-Strike …
News
GeT_RiGhT stepping down from Ninjas in Pyjamas lineup, future unclear
Steven Rondina
It might just be the end of an era for Ninjas in Pyjamas, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive as a whole. According to a report by Dexerto’s Jarek Lewis, Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund is officially preparing to step down from the NiP roster. The organization had previously teased that it was looking for a suitable long-term replacement for him following the StarLadder Berlin Major in a now-deleted statement. He will be replaced …
Counter-Strike
EliGE talks teammates, s1mple, and training ahead of ESL One New York
William Davis
Ahead of ESL One New York 2019, Team Liquid’s Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski hosted an AMA on Reddit. Team Liquid is heading to ESL One New York 2019 after a disappointing result at the StarLadder Berlin Major. The squad was considered the favorite to win the event, but were upset in the quarterfinals by archrivals Astralis. EliGE reflected on the team’s performance at the event, discussed past and present teammates, and …
Counter-Strike
FaZe Clan officially signs coldzera ahead of ESL One New York
Olivia Richman
After weeks of speculation, FaZe Clan has announced the official signing of Marcelo “coldzera” David. The team posted a coy tweet just a few hours ago, simply saying, “We have an announcement to make.” This was followed by the Brazilian flag. A hype short was also attached to the official roster addition tweet. The announcement was well-received by coldzera’s fans, as well as FaZe’s followers. But it wasn’t too much of …
Counter-Strike
G2 Esports reportedly looking to add CR4ZY players nexa, huNter-
Steven Rondina
G2 Esports might be in for significant roster changes. According to a report by French outlet 1pv, the organization is looking to replace Richard “shox” Papillon and Lucas “Lucky” Chastang with Nemanja “nexa” Isaković and Nemanja “huNter-” Kovač. This follows repeated rumors regarding G2 making serious changes to its roster in the aftermath of the StarLadder Berlin Major. Per 1pv, G2 is looking to have Nexa take over in-game leadership …
NRG Esports roster reportedly leaving to join Evil Geniuses
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Evil Geniuses is getting back into the Counter-Strike business. According to a report by Dexerto’s Jarek Lewis, the roster of NRG Esports is set to depart the organization. They will remain together, but will begin competing under the Evil Geniuses umbrella. This could come into effect as soon as ESL One New York, which begins on September 26. If true, the news comes as a major surprise. NRG Esports has …
Female CSGO player Katie gets attention for all the wrong reasons
Olivia Richman
News
Who is Katie? In a male-dominated esport like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, it’s surprising to see a name like “Katie” popping up on CSGO subreddits and on the game’s leaderboards. But she’s there for a reason. Kaitlin “Katie” Boop first gained massive attention from the CSGO community in April, when she qualified for ESEA MDL Season 31’s Relegation Tournament with the team slashLEVEL. The team ended up placing third. This made Katie …
Esports corruption scandal rocks Australian CSGO, Overwatch scenes
William Davis
Counter-Strike
A number of Australia-based esports organizations are suspected of shady dealings. An explosive report from Nino Bucci and Sarah Curnow of ABC Investigations discussed a police investigation into rigged matches of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. It also hones in on an unnamed Overwatch Contenders team whose ownership has “organized crime links.” The news has rocked the Australian esports scene and more cases could come to light. The report does not get …
FURIA sign HEN1 to roster for DreamHack Masters Malmo
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
FURIA has officially signed Henrique “HEN1” Teles to its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster. The former Luminosity player will have his debut with his new squad on October 1 at DreamHack Masters Malmo. HEN1 is taking Rinaldo “ableJ” Moda Junior’s spot on the main roster. ableJ, who was promoted from the academy team in October of last year, has been moved to a substitute role. This is FURIA’s first roster change …
Freakazoid returns to pro CSGO, joins eUnited for ESL New York
Steven Rondina
News
Counter-Strike veteran Ryan “freakazoid” Abadir is back in the game. Three weeks after teasing a return to professional CSGO, the former Cloud9 player has joined eUnited. The organization revealed the news and announced that he will be in action immediately. “Freakazoid will be joining the active roster immediately. Please welcome Ryan as he competes with the squad at ESL One New York and the ESL Pro League,” the organization revealed …
Likely cheater caught in DreamHack Rotterdam qualifiers, enraging pros
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
“This is bullshit. I’ve experienced it firsthand (in a minor qualifier no less). It’s about time the main online qualifier organizers (Faceit & ESEA) have some shared database about cheaters or something to avoid having to ban the same people twice.” That was a recent tweet from Team Vitality’s Alex “ALEX” McMeekin after Pharsyde player “Holmyz” made an insane head shot during the DreamHack Rotterdam online qualifiers. Holmyz had actually …
Twistzz promises to get WASD tattoo after winning next CSGO major
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
Team Liquid’s Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken is feeling quite confident about his Counter-Strike: Global Offensive squad. “When we win the next major I’ll get WASD tattooed across my fingers on my left hand,” Twistzz said on Twitter. Many fans noticed that the tweet didn’t say if they won. It said when. Team Liquid had a disappointing run at the 2019 StarLadder Berlin Major earlier this month. But Twistzz still seems quite hopeful for …
Broky joins FaZe for ESL New York after GuardiaN returns to Na’Vi
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
FaZe Clan continues to rebuild following its disappointing showing at the StarLadder Berlin Major. According to a report by Polish esports outlet Cyber Sport, the organization is adding Helvijs “broky” Saukants to the lineup as a stand-in for ESL One New York. Per various reports, he is likely to serve as the team’s in-game leader following the departure of Filip “NEO” Kubski from the team. This also follows the official …
HellRaisers reveal new roster, announce return to CIS region
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Counter-Strike
HellRaisers has revealed its new Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster and announced its plans to transition from the European scene back to the CIS region. The team will retain the services of in-game leader Kirill “ANGE1” Karasiow, and the recently added Žygimantas “nukkye” Chmieliauskas. The rest of its previous team has been deactivated and are now available for transfer. The Ukranian organization shared the news on its official website. CEO Alex …
War Owl briefly loses his YouTube verification
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Popular Counter-Strike: Global Offensive YouTuber and steamer War Owl briefly lost his YouTube verification. He confirmed the news in a statement on Twitter and opened up on what had happened. “I lost channel verification on YouTube. Be careful of people impersonating me asking for skins/money or advertising gambling (which currently happens on Twitter and Steam) not sure why this happened, I get impersonated all the time,” wrote War Owl on …
Everything we know about the upcoming Cache update in CSGO
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
After over a year of waiting, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive fans are finally going to get a look at the update to popular map Cache. It has been a long and arduous process, with the update going from a few minor tweaks to something much larger. Fans were initially teased with screen grabs of small changes which eventually gave way to videos of major overhauls. As time went on, the existing …
CSGO update adds new options for practicing grenade throws
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
An incredibly helpful new practice feature has been added in the latest update to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Three new console commands have been added to the game, designed to help players practice some of CSGO’s trickier grenade throws. The commands cannot be used in casual or competitive matchmaking, but should greatly speed up the process of experimenting with smoke, flash, and molotov placements. The first command is cl_grenadepreview, which gives …
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.
