Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
War Owl briefly loses his YouTube verification
William Davis
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 …
Counter-Strike
Everything we know about the upcoming Cache update in CSGO
Steven Rondina
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 …
Counter-Strike
CSGO update adds new options for practicing grenade throws
Steven Rondina
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
Dignitas announces return to male competitive CSGO, seeks players
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Dignitas has announced they will be re-entering the male Counter-Strike: Global Offensive scene. A bit over a year after Dignitas has dropped its CSGO team, the esports organization is looking to come back and make a big entrance. The team shared a video featuring Dignitas CEO Michael “Prindi” Prindiville saying they’re coming back to build a dynasty. “I want hungry players who want top-level management, and top facilities and structure, …
Bomb scare forces Faceit evacuation during ECS NA qualifier
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Counter-Strike
The Esports Championship Series’ North American qualifiers stream had to continue without Faceit’s broadcasting staff because of a potential bomb threat that was later proven to be a false alarm. Just as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive squads Team Liquid and eUnited were set into a heated match, casters and staff at Faceit in charge of broadcasting the games had to evacuate their premises. According to Santa Monica Police Department, this was …
Valve responds to ESL exclusivity, Berlin Major copyright strikes
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Valve has addressed some major issues that have been facing the competitive Counter-Strike: Global Offensive ecosystem in recent months. The 2019 StarLadder Berlin Major put the broadcast exclusivity rights of tournament organizers under further scrutiny. This was followed by ESL implementing a long list of rules for teams competing in the ESL Pro League, ostensibly designed to limit competing teams’ ability to participate in events hosted by other tournament organizers. …
Friberg gets revenge on Heroic, beats them 16-0 as substitute
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Adam “friberg” Friberg is one Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player you don’t want to mess with. The veteran player was recently dumped from Heroic in favor of Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer. In response, friberg stepped in for Team GamerLegion as a substitute in the GG.Bet Beijing Invitational, playing against his former team and torching them with a 16-0 victory. The game was largely what one would expect out of a 16-0 game. Playing …
Astralis’ new aiming habits might be key to the team’s success
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Astralis is one of the best Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams in the world, and the recently won yet another major title at the 2019 StarLadder Berlin Major. It’s not just the size of their trophy case what sets them apart from other teams. It’s also their style of aim. Reddit user IWillFindAWayToDoIt highlighted Astralis’ aiming habits and how it gives them an advantage over other teams. In CSGO, taking down …
G2 Esports adds kioShiMa as sub for shox at ESL One New York
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
G2 Esports seems to be ready to move past Richard “shox” Papillon. The organization announced that it has added free agent player Fabien “kioShiMa” Fiey as a substitute. He will compete alongside the team in the GG.Bet Beijing Invitational and at ESL One New York. The reveal was made on Twitter. kioShiMa has enjoyed numerous successes through the French Counter-Strike: Global Offensive scene over the years, including winning the DreamHack …
Latest CSGO update brings improved bots, weapon pickup bug fix
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
A new Counter-Strike: Global Offensive update has arrived and in addition to adding some fixes, it gives fans some things to look forward to in the near future. For the most part, the latest update tackled technical issues. Included in this is a new ability to cap FPS at as low as 49 and some unspecified stability fixes. An Overwatch-style demo playback option has also been added for GOTV through …
Fnatic reunites Flusha with KRIMZ and JW, also brings back Golden
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Fnatic is welcoming back two of its former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive stars. The organization announced the addition of Robin “flusha” Rönnquist and Maikil “Golden” Kunda Selim. They join the team approximately one year after their latest departure. “Between the moment we dropped out of the Berlin Minor and now, we have made a more arduous effort towards improving our team than ever before…Since, in choosing our new players and creating …
Interview stirs drama between ENCE and former captain Aleksib
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Analysts and commentators marveled over the professionalism of the ENCE Esports team at the StarLadder Berlin Major as they dealt with a turbulent time with the team. Now that the event is over, things are turning a bit less professional. Now that he is officially out of the team, Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen seems to be taking issue with the remaining ENCE players. In particular, he scoffed at a recent HLTV …
British Parliament discusses extending gambling laws to loot boxes
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Members of the UK Parliament have called for gambling laws to be applied to purchasable loot boxes in video games. Should the motion pass, players under the age of 18 would not be able to purchase loot boxes in any video game. Following a nine-month-long investigation into the nature of immersive and addictive technologies, a report was published this week that looked into the possible negative effects of gaming and …
G2 may agree to Vitality buyout of shox, coldzera left in limbo
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
shox is on the move, and his transfer isn’t going to be cheap. The post-StarLadder Berlin Major roster shuffle is in full swing and one of the biggest stories floating around has been the massive buyout prices for Richard “shox” Papillon of G2 Esports and Marcelo “coldzera” David of MiBR. According to reports, Shox is likely heading to Team Vitality after negotiating around a buyout clause that was originally estimated …
Avangar rebound from Berlin Major loss, take first at BLAST Moscow
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Avangar may not have won the major, but they’ve got at least one trophy to show off for their resurgence. The Kazakhstani team took first place at BLAST Pro Series Moscow, defeating ForZe in the grand finals. The win gives Avangar a $125,000 prize but more importantly, it demonstrates that their performance at the StarLadder Berlin Major was no fluke. ForZe opened map one on Overpass strong with a successful …
CSGO fan creates configuration file to help deaf players
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive isn’t just a visual game. Hearing opponents’ footsteps, gunfire, and bomb plants are an important part of the experience. That can make enjoying the game difficult for deaf players, but a creative CSGO fan is addressing this by creating a configuration to help the hearing-impaired. The player shared his configuration on Reddit to overwhelmingly positive response. The file gives players text cues on-screen when a sound file …
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.
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