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Team Liquid defeat FaZe Clan to become BLAST Pro Series champions Counter-Strike Team Liquid defeat FaZe Clan to become BLAST Pro Series champions By Olivia Richman Astralis leaked emails on RFRSH reveal team had long wanted to leave Counter-Strike Astralis leaked emails on RFRSH reveal team had long wanted to leave By Olivia Richman Lazarus coach fRoD talks Americas Minor disqualification Counter-Strike Lazarus coach fRoD talks Americas Minor disqualification By Steven Rondina
Astralis, Origen set to split from parent company RFRSH Entertainment Counter-Strike
Astralis, Origen set to split from parent company RFRSH Entertainment Steven Rondina Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team Astralis and LEC franchise Origen are splitting from parent company RFRSH Entertainment. According to a report by HLTV, RFRSH is seeking a new majority shareholder for the two brands. The move stems from RFRSH’s plans to pour greater effort into its BLAST Pro Series events. Details were not given in terms of how much RFRSH is seeking for its share in the two teams, but company …
Coldzera benched by MiBR, status for Berlin Major unclear News
Coldzera benched by MiBR, status for Berlin Major unclear Steven Rondina The messy divorce between Marcelo “coldzera” David and MiBR may finally be official. MiBR coach Wilton “zews” Prado announced on Twitter that the team has benched the star player. This carries potentially serious ramifications when it comes to the team’s standing in the StarLadder Berlin Major. “Today I’m here to officially announce that Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David is no longer on the starting roster of MIBR and has been placed on …
WarOwl finds out how often reported hackers really are cheating Counter-Strike
WarOwl finds out how often reported hackers really are cheating Steven Rondina Anyone that has ever played Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has probably suspected an opponent to be hacking. Whether it’s a pair of headshots through a smoke, an inexplicable wall bang, or a strangely keen game sense that allows the enemy team to know every time someone is sitting in a boost spot, weird things can happen in CSGO. But were those players just lucky? Or were they actually using third-party software? …
MiBR and coldzera turn to psychologist to fix internal issues Counter-Strike
MiBR and coldzera turn to psychologist to fix internal issues Nina Forneloza Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team MiBR has hired a psychologist to try and resolve some internal issues within the team. The hiring was confirmed by Epitacio “TACO” de Melo on Twitter. MiBR clearly has some internal issues that need to be addressed. Their recent performances have been poor, with the Brazilian team having been one of the first teams eliminated from the recent ESL One Cologne event. Following that event, star …
BLAST Pro Series defends move to smaller, more expensive CSGO venue Counter-Strike BLAST Pro Series defends move to smaller, more expensive CSGO venue By Olivia Richman Fortnite edges CSGO for biggest esports prizes halfway through 2019 Counter-Strike Fortnite edges CSGO for biggest esports prizes halfway through 2019 By Syed Mujtaba Naqvi Lazarus Esports kicked out of Americas Minor, Luminosity added Counter-Strike Lazarus Esports kicked out of Americas Minor, Luminosity added By Steven Rondina
Team Liquid players break into top 25 money earners in CSGO history Counter-Strike
Team Liquid players break into top 25 money earners in CSGO history Nina Forneloza Team Liquid has defeated Vitality at ESL One Cologne 2019, and in doing so won the Intel Grand Slam Season 2 in record time. The prize money from those two wins has pushed the team’s players into the top 25 earners in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive history, according to esportsearnings.com. The Intel Grand Slam awards a prize of $1,000,000 to the first team that wins four out of the 10 chosen …
Luminosity Gaming seeks to bring new audiences to esports Counter-Strike
Luminosity Gaming seeks to bring new audiences to esports Syed Mujtaba Naqvi Luminosity Gaming has partnered with Big Digital to launch gaming activation sessions. Luminosity and Big Digital are looking to bring esports closer to mainstream media and a wider esports audience by providing that audience with a more interactive experience. The partnership aims to share the esports experience to a broader audience by combining gaming containers and digital technology. Luminosity is focusing on music audiences, as they believe there is a …
Team Liquid CSGO wins ESL One Cologne 2019 News
Team Liquid CSGO wins ESL One Cologne 2019 Nina Forneloza Team Liquid has won ESL One Cologne 2019 and secured the Intel Grand Slam Season 2 prize of $1 million. The North American squad took out Team Vitality 3-1 in the grand finals of the event. That victory combined with first-place finishes at Intel Extreme Masters XIV Sydney, DreamHack Masters Dallas, and ESL Pro League Season 9 locked up the Intel Grand Slam. Team Liquid were dominant on Overpass, winning …
Coldzera reportedly looks to leave MiBR before Berlin Major Counter-Strike
Coldzera reportedly looks to leave MiBR before Berlin Major Steven Rondina MiBR is in a tricky spot with the reported benching of the team’s star player. According to a report by HLTV, Marcelo “coldzera” David has requested his deactivation from the team following BLAST Pro Series Los Angeles and Intel Extreme Masters XIV Chicago. If true, that would include his withdrawal from the upcoming StarLadder Berlin Major. Per HLTV, the reasoning behind the request is frustration over MiBR’s unideal results in …
Team Liquid versus Vitality grand finals set for ESL One Cologne Steven Rondina Counter-Strike The ESL One Cologne grand finals are now set. In the final series of the event, Team Liquid will take on Team Vitality in a matchup of two of the hottest teams in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The game will carry huge bragging rights, as well as a potentially massive paycheck for Liquid. Vitality kicked off the semifinals with a series against Astralis. Though the French team got off to an …
Dupreeh admits Astralis is no longer the best team in the world Steven Rondina Counter-Strike Astralis is no longer the best team in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Pundits have been shouting it for weeks, but now Astralis player Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen agrees with that assessment as well. During a post-match interview at ESL One Cologne, the team’s entry fragger was asked point blank about the team’s recent struggles and his response was plain. “Clearly we’re not the best team in the world. I don’t think we’ve …
Vitality faces Astralis at ESL One Cologne after beating NRG Esports Steven Rondina Counter-Strike ESL One Cologne’s semifinals are going to have a main event feel. Following Team Vitality’s win over NRG Esports, the French squad is set to face Astralis for a spot in the grand finals. This is the first time the two teams will face off in an official tournament match. Vitality earned their spot in the semifinals with a dominant 2-0 victory over NRG Esports. The first showdown on Dust …
Jump throw scripts are legalized for next CSGO major by Valve Steven Rondina Counter-Strike A common Counter-Strike: Global Offensive script is going to become legal in professional games. Jump throw binds have been officially legalized for the StarLadder Berlin Major. The decision was made with cooperation between StarLadder, Valve, and the Counter-Strike Professional Players’ Association, with the news being announced by StarLadder. The official rulebook for the upcoming StarLadder Berlin Major was changed to reflect this: “During LAN phase using of scripts will be …
CSGO meta shifts hard at ESL One Cologne after Anniversary Update Steven Rondina Counter-Strike Counter-Strike: Global Offensive professionals are dialing back their use of the AUG. The CT-side scoped assault rifle has experienced a steep drop in usage at the ESL One Cologne tournament. This suggests that the recent nerfs to the gun have had a serious impact on its viability in pro play. The AUG has only been chosen around 20% of the time when it comes to CT assault rifle purchases, with …
Lazarus Esports beats New Identity in debut WINNERS League NA final Jared Wynne Counter-Strike Lazarus Esports has been crowned the inaugural champion of WINNERS League’s debut North American invitational tournament after a thrilling grand finals victory. Lazarus defeated New Identity in the final series by a 2-1 margin. The finals included overtime, comebacks, and big individual performances from some of America’s best Counter-Strike: Global Offensive talent. New Identity got off to a promising start on Overpass. The team played Lazaraus to a standstill, trading …
s1mple knife fail allows Team Liquid to come back at ESL One Cologne Steven Rondina Counter-Strike Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev is probably the single best Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player in the world, but he isn’t perfect. The Natus Vincere star wound up with some egg on his face at ESL One Cologne. During a group stage match with Team Liquid, the player botched an attempted knife kill on Nicholas “nitr0” Cannella that helped facilitate a comeback for the North American side. The moment was clipped on Twitch: …
Virtus.pro CSGO team benches OKOLICIOUZ, announce phr as stand-in Olivia Richman Counter-Strike After just a few weeks, Virtus.pro is benching Michal “OKOLICIOUZ” Glowaty.  The Polish team has announced that Tomasz “phr” Wojcik will be the stand-in for OKOLICIOUZ, who joined the roster in May. At the time, OKOLICIOUZ was serving as Pawel “byali” Bienlinski’s replacement. byali had left Virtus.pro after playing on the team for five years, stating he couldn’t agree with Virtus.pro’s “general principles.”  The team’s fans were skeptical of OKOLICIOUZ …
Cloud9 reveals new CSGO roster after Americas Minor qualifier flop Steven Rondina Counter-Strike To the surprise of no one, Cloud9’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster has undergone a major shakeup. Following its failure to reach the closed qualifiers of the StarLadder Berlin Major Americas Minor Championship, the organization unveiled a heavily overhauled roster. The new lineup will debut at BLAST Pro Series: Los Angeles. Joining Cloud9 star Timothy “Autimatic” Ta are former NRG Esports captain Damian “daps” Steele, Ghost Gaming’s Kenneth “Koosta” Suen, Tyson …
Furia Esports and Nike partner up for major esports sponsorshipship Steven Rondina Counter-Strike Furia Esports has officially hit the big leagues of the esports world. The Brazilian organization best known of its surging Counter-Strike: Global Offensive squad has secured a sponsorship with athletic apparel juggernaut Nike. The sponsorship is Nike’s second foray into esports. “This contract with Nike is something pioneer in esports’ world and adds credibility and sustainability to our project,” Furia CEO Jaime Pádua F. Filho said. “With Nike’s support, we’ll …
Shroud gives advice for anyone to reach his level Nina Forneloza Counter-Strike In a recent stream, former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro and popular streamer Michael “shroud” Grzesiek dismissed suggestions he was a “gaming god,” insisting anyone could reach his level of play and revealing his keys to success. In a discussion regarding shroud’s ability to advance to the top rank in any first-person shooter he plays, a fan on stream asked the question whether he considered himself a “gaming god.” Shroud dismissed …
CSGO VAC bans in 2019 have already surpassed 4 million Jared Wynne Counter-Strike The Counter Strike: Global Offensive community has been desperate for anti-cheating improvements since the dawn of the franchise 20 years ago. Valve has now issued 500,000 account bans in May alone to help combat the prevalence of cheating in the game.The Valve Anti-Cheat system that has been present on the platform for years, and was recently made able to recognise a few popular free-to-use cheating softwares that have led 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.