Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Fnatic reunites Flusha with KRIMZ and JW, also brings back Golden
Steven Rondina
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 …
Counter-Strike
Interview stirs drama between ENCE and former captain Aleksib
Steven Rondina
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 …
Counter-Strike
British Parliament discusses extending gambling laws to loot boxes
Fariha Bhatti
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 …
Counter-Strike
G2 may agree to Vitality buyout of shox, coldzera left in limbo
Steven Rondina
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 …
Counter-Strike
Astralis’ success furthers debate in how best to practice, prepare
Jared Wynne
Astralis’ latest championship victory has again caused people to ask themselves what the best way to prepare for a major performance really is. By early 2019, the Danish team had already established itself as one of the greatest Counter-Strike: Global Offensive sides of all time. Two major championships and one of the most dominant streaks in the game’s history spoke to Astralis’ greatness. But something happened in the summer season. …
Counter-Strike
Natus Vincere also losing CSGO coach at BLAST Pro Series Moscow
Nina Forneloza
Natus Vincere has announced that Counter-Strike Global Offensive coach Mykhailo “Kane” Blagin will be leaving the organization after BLAST Pro Series Moscow. The announcement follows Na’Vi’s disappointing quarterfinal exit from the StarLadder Berlin Major after suffering a 0-2 defeat at the hands of NRG Esports. Kane will be leaving alongside captain Danylo “Zeus” Teslenko, who also announced his plans to retire after BLAST Pro Series Moscow. Kane has been the …
Counter-Strike
Social media drama over Renegades CSGO roster plans
Steven Rondina
Australia’s top Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team is set to explode. Either that, or everything is fine. Shortly after Renegades’ elimination from the Berlin Major, Dexerto published a report by Jarek Lewis that suggested the players’ contracts were set to expire. This meant that there was a good chance of the popular squad either breaking up and heading to different teams, or staying together and transferring to a new organization. However, …
Counter-Strike
Avangar and ForZe in, Vitality out at BLAST Pro Series Moscow
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Team Vitality has withdrawn from the BLAST Pro Series Moscow tournament. Following rumors regarding their status for the event, the organizer has confirmed that the team is out due to their inability to finalize a new roster. The team benched Nathan “NBK-“ Schmitt after its StarLadder Berlin Major run ended in the quarterfinals of the playoffs. “Following recent change, we’re unable to present a complete CSGO roster for the BLAST …
s1mple, Natus Vincere roast DreamEaters over poaching allegations
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Roster poaching seems to be one of the hottest topics in esports these days and apparently, some teams actually want to be a part of that discussion. Russia’s DreamEaters got a bit of shine at the StarLadder Berlin Major. The squad advanced out of the Challengers Stage thanks to surprise wins over NRG Esports and Team Vitality and, despite a quick 0-3 exit from the Legends Stage, established themselves as …
GuardiaN reportedly returning to Natus Vincere to replace Zeus
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Natus Vincere is soon saying goodbye to Danylo “Zeus” Teslenko, but they reportedly have his replacement already lined up. According to a Twitter post by Don Haci, the organization is looking to bring back former player Ladislav “GuardiaN” Kovács. Haci refused to comment past that, but the post follows recent rumors discussing a potential split between GuardiaN and his current team, FaZe Clan. Two weeks ago, FaZe posted a disappointing …
jdm64 declares intention to compete again in NA or EU in 2020
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Josh “jdm64” Marzano is ready to get back to competitive Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. A former Team Envy player, jdm64 posted on Twitter his wish to get back to the stage in 2020. “When I say I will get the job done, trust me it will happen given time. I love challenges and I’m more than ready for any that is thrown my way,” wrote jdm64. jdm64 expressed a willingness to …
Poker pro gets into online CSGO row with Thorin over Astralis
Jared Wynne
Counter-Strike
Astralis won their third major in a row over the weekend, sweeping Avangar in the final to claim the StarLadder Berlin Major title. On their way to the title, Astralis also swept Team Liquid, the top-ranked team in the world according to HLTV’s popular power rankings. That win gave Astralis a clear path to their third straight major championship and a chance to reclaim the world’s number one spot. In …
CSGO legend Zeus announces retirement, to step down from Na’Vi
Nina Forneloza
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive legend and Natus Vincere captain Danylo “Zeus” Teslenko will retire after BLAST Pro Series Moscow. The announcement came just one day after the 2019 StarLadder Berlin Major in which Na’Vi was defeated in the quarterfinals by NRG Esports in a 2-0 sweep. Zeus has been a member of the Na’Vi organization for 9 years and has been competing in various versions of Counter-Strike for 20 years. As …
dupreeh explains how Astralis captured fourth CSGO major title
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Astralis made history on Sunday when the Danish team came out victorious at the StarLadder Berlin Major, breaking the record for most major championships won by a team and becoming the first ever to win three in a row. It’s a special achievement and one that likely won’t be replicated in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive any time soon. How did Astralis manage to pull it off? What drove them through the …
Cache map designer FMPONE shows CSGO fans preview of rework
Olivia Richman
News
It may be a month until Cache returns to competitive Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, but map designer FMPONE is already giving fans a sneak peak at some of the location’s changes. FMPONE put a photo of Cache as his Twitter header, which only made CSGO players even more excited to see the totally reworked map after it was pulled from the active duty map pool in March. The art in this …
HellRaisers coach lmbt now a free agent after roster benched
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
HellRaisers coach Sergey “lmbt” Bezhanov is now a free agent. lmbt’s announcement comes shortly after HellRaisers benched their entire roster. Four days ago, the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team benched their whole squad after leaving StarLadder Berlin Major in defeat. HellRaisers couldn’t make it past the New Challengers Stage, where they were eliminated with a 1-3 record. This unfortunate result was sadly nothing new for HellRaisers, who finished in fifth place …
Coldzera, Aleksib reportedly to join FaZe Clan after Berlin Major
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Big changes might be coming to FaZe Clan. According to a report by EGamers World, the organization is set to retool its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team. Per Alexei “OverDrive” Biryukov, Filip “NEO” Kubski and Ladislav “GuardiaN” Kovács are set to depart the organization and will be replaced by MiBR star Marcelo “coldzera” David and former ENCE Esports in-game leader Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen. Neither FaZe Clan nor the individual players have issued …
Astralis capture Berlin Major title by defeating Avangar
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Astralis have made Counter-Strike: Global Offensive history. The Danish squad won the StarLadder Berlin Major with a 2-0 victory. The team becomes the first to ever to win three consecutive major titles, following their wins at the FACEIT Major: London and the IEM Katwoice Major. It also gives the team their fourth major title, breaking the record of three that they previously held with Fnatic. They accomplished this by defeating …
Vitality bench NBK- after early elimination from Berlin Major
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Following a disappointing end to their run in the Starladder Berlin Major 2019, Team Vitality is making some changes to their CS:GO team. Specifically, the organization has removed Nathan “NBK-” Schmitt from his role on the starting roster and will be exploring other options for a fifth player. The team released a statement on the matter on their Twitter page. “The team has shown amazing results but a change was …
15 tips to play like a pro in CSGO
Jared Wynne
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is one of the most popular games in the world today. But only a small number of its players are able to play at the highest levels. Why is this? Because many players do little or nothing to effectively improve their in-game skills. People play games to relax after a hard workday or a tough week at school. Not everyone wants to strain and sweat during the …
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.
