Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Twistzz returns to Team Liquid
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike’s golden boy Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken has returned to Team Liquid after spending three years in FaZe Clan. Dust2.us had earlier reported that Twistzz would be stepping down from FaZe Clan to return to his former team. On December 1, Twistzz made it official, announcing his departure from FaZe Clan. Now, the Canadian player has confirmed his return to Team Liquid. Twistzz will be joining the storied skipper Casper …
Counter-Strike
CS2 is raining Elo on players as Valve fixes rank
William Davis
Your CS2 rank may have gone up these past couple of weeks, and it’s not just due to your insane game sense and cracked aim. Ranking up was one of the best feelings in all of Global Offensive, but the new colored Rating system in CS2 doesn’t have quite the same impact. Still, seeing a number go up is one of gamers’ favorite activities, and Valve has acknowledged it. In …
Counter-Strike
Pro player s1mple praises underrated CS2 feature
Fariha Bhatti
It seems CS2 is finally growing on legendary player Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyljev as he finally praises an in-game feature. s1mple had a strong opinion about CS2 when it was released in September. He called it a “sh-t” game and asked players not to play it for at least three months. Soon after, he announced his competitive break, which many speculated had something to do with CS2 being poorly optimized. But …
Counter-Strike
Here’s how your CS Rating compares to the ranks in CSGO
Fariha Bhatti
Valve has completely changed the rank progression in CS2 by introducing the CS Rating. If you’re still confused about how you stack up, this latest stat-based rank comparison may help. CS Rating is simple, but it’s tough to tell precisely what number is considered decent. For example, you may see questionable plays at 5K Rating games, which can be confusing since it doesn’t seem like a terrible number. This rank …
Counter-Strike
CS2 players want Valorant-style knife skins after this visual bug
Fariha Bhatti
CS2 has a new visual bug that has players wishing for animated knives. Counter-Strike 2 is still new, so bugs and issues are a given. However, the player base is still annoyed at Valve for not fixing them right away, but there are a few bugs that they don’t necessarily hate. For example, this latest visual glitch has players wishing for Valorant-style knives in CS2. CS2’s direct competitor, Valorant, has …
Counter-Strike
Is NiKo leaving G2 for Falcons? The roster havoc explained
William Davis
Star G2 Esports rifler Nikola “NiKo” Kovač appeared to leave his team to join Falcons earlier today, leaving impatient fans confused. The CS2 esports community is in a tizzy over Falcons, a rumored superteam that will combine top players from several squads into a single stacked squadron. As one of the greatest riflers of all time, NiKo was an obvious hotspot for rumors, but G2 itself appears to confirm them …
Counter-Strike
Valve dev talks subtick servers in CS2, defends jump problem
William Davis
CS2 fans are still in an uproar about subtick servers, and a personal talk with a Valve dev has fixed some things while worsening others. Like it or not, subtick servers are here to stay. Valve put a lot of effort into creating a happy medium between 64 and 128-tick servers, but various little bugs have emerged in the process. One of the most sinister causes jumps to reach inconsistent …
Counter-Strike
CS2 finally adds Workshop support for community maps
William Davis
Workshop support was probably the most requested feature since the launch of CS2, and Valve has finally delivered. Counter-Strike is all about community. From its origins as a Half-Life mod to its current state as a community-driven esports, the tactical shooter has always relied on its players just as much as its developers. However, CS2 broke that trend with the removal of the Workshop, forcing players to find their own …
Boombl4 returns to CS2 with Cloud9, reunites Na’Vi core
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Cloud9 has a new CS2 captain in Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhaylov, a controversial player whose return is sparking even more discussion. Counter-Strike fans were expecting some shock comebacks with the release of CS2, and while news has been mostly quiet, one fan-favorite has returned to the peak of the game. Former Natus Vincere in-game leader and Stockholm Major champion Boombl4 has officially joined Cloud9, marking a return to the highest tier …
CS2 loses 18% of its players in a historic decline
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike 2 is off to a rocky start as it loses more than 18% of the players in the first month of release. After years of teasing and months in testing, CS2 came out of the beta in September. Community figures harbored doubts about CS2’s readiness for release, but Valve rolled it out anyway. Now, it seems like the pro players were right all along. In the first month of …
CS2 players express frustration over AWP inaccuracy
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
After Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyljev claims that AWP in CS2 isn’t as impactful, players are highlighting a significant flaw in the sniper rifle, which seems intentional from Valve. Sniper rifle in CSGO has always been controversial, leading to regular nerfs from the developer. At the twilight of CSGO, the AWP was finally in a balanced state, at least according to the community. Now, players have noticed a minor detail in AWP’s …
s1mple announces sudden break from pro CS2
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike veteran Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyljev has shocked the FPS community by announcing a sudden break from Counter-Strike 2. On Twitter, s1mple said that he needs time away from Counter-Strike to “fix documents and take care of other people in my life.” This has left fans wondering if he’s retiring from pro gaming and about his future with Natus Vincere. In the surprising announcement tweet, s1mple explained that he “never thought …
Team Liquid CS2 team reportedly losing head coach daps
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
Team Liquid’s Counter-Strike 2 team just lost head coach Damian “daps” Steele. Team Liquid has been looking a bit rough going into the Counter-Strike 2 season. Their long-standing team was split up after a lot of underwhelming placements at big events like the ESL Pro League Season 18 Playoffs. Then, they failed to even qualify for IEM Cologne. As a response, Liquid looked to Europe and added Aleks “Rainwaker” Petrov …
s1mple leaves Valve on read regarding break from CS2
William Davis
Counter-Strike
CS2 just isn’t good enough for Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyljev, and Valve just can’t seem to understand why. The release of CS2 has been rocky, to say the least. Between Michael Jackson peeks running rampant and community control fixes getting squashed mid-tournament, reception among both casuals and pros is mixed at best. Chief among critics is Natus Vincere AWPer s1mple, who went so far as to go on break for the …
Valve kills alias fixes in CS2, community responds
William Davis
Counter-Strike
CS2 players were outsmarting Valve by using special alias commands to get around subtick inconsistencies, but now the developer is cracking down even harder. Subtick servers were one of the most exciting features announced with the reveal of CS2, but now that everyone has a chance to play on them, the reception is very mixed. Pros began developing their own techniques to get around subtick inconsistencies, but Valve has decided …
CS2 patch notes reveal new bomb music, bug fixes
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike 2 has a new update that’s meant to make gameplay feel a bit better. This includes new bomb music in the form of a 10-second countdown that warns of a C4 going off. Here’s everything you need to know about the latest CS2 update. Sometimes all it takes is a little tweak to make the gameplay noticeably better. In this case, developers decided to add new audio when the …
How to get free CS2 skins from weekly drops
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Weekly drops are back in CS2 but they work quite differently than your remember. While it’s shockingly easy to spend thousands of dollars on the supposedly free game, one of CSGO’s nicer points was that it occasionally paid you to play it. Regular free drops could lead to some nice paydays for lucky players, and high case prices meant a regular small return for non-gamblers. However, Valve completely changed up …
s1mple is taking a break from CS2, here’s why
William Davis
Counter-Strike
CSGO’s esports legacy is synonymous with superstar AWPer Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyljev, but CS2 will have to start off without him. Whether he’s clutching out impossible rounds or keeping an iron grip on mid, s1mple is the most respected player in modern Counter-Strike. With the scene’s transition to CS2, s1mple was expected to truck along with everyone else into the Source 2 engine, but it turns out that his complaints are …
CS2 skin trader banned with over $100,000 worth of skins
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Renowned CS2 skin trader “Neon” has received a surprise ban from Valve on his Steam account, which holds $105450 worth of skins. Valve has been mercilessly banning cheaters in CS2, which is refreshing for old-timers begging the developer to wipe out the malicious players. However, not all bans have been fair, at least according to credible traders in CS2. This time, a renowned skin trader, Neon, has been VAC banned …
What is Michael Jackson peek in CS2? How to do it
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
All CS2 players are raving about the latest movement trick, “Michael Jackson peek.” But what does it even mean? When it comes to movement tactics, CS2 players are a cut above the rest. From the very first iteration of the game, players have been discovering new ways to take the enemy by surprise. From the infamous Xantares to Ferrari peek, players have come up with all sorts of tactics to …
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.
