Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
US senator introduces bill to ban loot boxes in video games
Steven Rondina
The creeping international legislation against loot boxes has finally reached American shores. According to a report from Kotaku, US Senator Josh Hawley has introduced “The Protecting Children from Abusive Games Act,” a bill that takes aim at loot boxes and microtransactions. If passed, this carries serious consequences for the video game industry. “When a game is designed for kids, game developers shouldn’t be allowed to monetize addiction,” the Republican from …
Counter-Strike
Shroud returns to CS:GO and gets a shockingly low ranking
Steven Rondina
Michael “shroud” Grzesiek got quite a surprise when he returned to playing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The former Cloud9 player decided to return to his old stomping grounds and play some competitive games during streams. Though he remains a sharpshooter and demonstrated the same skills that made him a top star from 2014 to 2017, he was given a bit of a surprise when he was slapped with a relatively low …
Counter-Strike
Ballistic Shield returns to CS:GO’s Danger Zone with latest patch
Steven Rondina
The Ballistic Shield has made its return to Counter-Strike. In the Danger Zone. Introduced in the original Counter-Strike but removed in Counter-Strike: Source, the shield is now available as an upgrade item in Global Offensive’s battle royale mode. The item retains some of its functions from the previous games, but is still quite different from the original. Unlike in 1.6, the Ballistic Shield is not used as a primary weapon …
Counter-Strike
Denmark prime minister visits and plays CS:GO with Astralis
Olivia Richman
Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said that 96 percent of all Danish boys play video games at least twice a week. And now Rasmussen can count himself as a gamer, too. The Prime Minister visisted Denmark-based Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team Astralis’ headquarters and played some games with them. This was part of the Ministry of Culture’s continued efforts to support the esports industry and break stereotypes about what it …
News
Virtus.pro signs another new player after veteran byali steps down
Olivia Richman
Virtus.pro has announced that Michal “OKOLICIOUZ” Glowaty will be joining its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster. The Polish-German player has been a part of Virtus.pro as a stand-in before. This included taking on Izako Boars in the Polish Championship. Now, he is joining Virtus.pro for active competition in both ESEA MDL Season 31 Europe and Kalashnikov Cup Season 2. Before coming back to Virtus.pro, OKOLICIOUZ has been playing for EURONICS since the …
Counter-Strike
CS:GO Danger Zone gets massive update bringing new weapons and map
Steven Rondina
While it felt like Valve’s battle royale experiment had been swept under the rug for a time, the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive development team has apparently been toiling away on a major update. Big changes have arrived to CS:GO’s Danger Zone. A new patch has dropped for the game mode, bringing with it a new map, new items, and multiple UI changes. They combine to make for a very different Danger …
Counter-Strike
New teams take over the standings in latest Winners League action
Steven Rondina
Winners League Season 2 is now at the halfway point of its group stage, and the hierarchy between teams is beginning to manifest. The early favorites to dominate have looked solid. Teams like Virtus.pro and Lazarus Esports sport winning records and seem to be strong candidates to make the playoffs. But it’s the new teams like Polar Ace Esports and Royal that have really looked best to this point. This …
Counter-Strike
Byali steps down from Virtus.pro, team announces replacement
Steven Rondina
Paweł “byali” Bieliński is stepping away from Virtus.pro. According to a report from Cybersport.pl, the longtime member of the iconic Polish team is stepping down. The cause is frustration over Virtus.pro’s struggles to this point in 2019, as well as his own in-game stumbles since returning to the team’s active roster in November. Byali was a member of Virtus.pro’s dynasty years, which lasted from 2014 until 2017 with highlights including …
ESL Pro League updates relegation system across all regions
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Tournament organizer ESL has updated the relegation system for its ESL Pro League in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive across all competing regions. The ESL Pro League recently changed its format to include more teams in Europe, the Americas, and in the Asia-Pacific region. Sixteen teams are taking part in the group stage for each region, with the top squads moving directly to the next stage of the event while the bottom …
Two new maps hit Counter-Strike in latest competitive update
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
A lot of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive maps are looking a bit different now, and some no longer exist. A major update dropped in the game client bringing a number of aesthetic tweaks to established levels and making a couple of changes to competitive mode’s map rotation. It’s the latest change in what has been a hectic few months for CS:GO. The biggest change comes with the addition of Workout. The …
dev1ce pulls off the play of the year with two-bullet clutch
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz is no stranger to incredible plays, but his latest highlight might be among his best. The superstar AWPer for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive juggernaut Astralis turned heads with a recent clutch round on Inferno. In a match versus Hellraisers during ESL Pro League Season 9, the Dane pulled off an incredible 1 on 2 clutch win, using just two bullets to put Astralis up 9-6 on the map. …
Astralis hits 30 wins in a row on Nuke during ESL Pro League
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Astralis is good on every Counter-Strike: Global Offensive map, but the team is practically untouchable on Nuke. Playing opposite the ex-3D Max team in the ESL Pro League Season 9 Europe division, the three-time major winners notched their 30th straight win on the map in offline play. The win also closed out the series 2-0 in favor of the Danes. Though Nuke isn’t among the most popular map picks, Astralis has …
Beyond the Summit returns to Counter-Strike in May with CS_Summit 4
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Beyond the Summit is returning to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The tournament organizer has announced its next event, CS_Summit 4. The tournament will bring six top CS:GO squads into the Summit House for a unique broadcast that focuses heavily on player involvement. Speaking on Twitter, Beyond the Summit revealed that CS_Summit 4 will include Team Liquid, ENCE Esports, NRG Esports, Renegades, Team Vitality, and Ghost Gaming. The event will feature a …
Astralis remains the top ranked CS:GO team in the world for one year
Olivia Richman
News
Astralis has been ranked number one for an entire year by one of the game’s most respected rankings. The Danish Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team has a staggering 1,000 points on HLTV’s ranking system. The next closest organization is Team Liquid with 591 points. HLTV ranks CS:GO teams based on their performances at events throughout the year while factoring in the relevance of each tournament played. Astralis has won 15 titles in …
New video game regulations in China to ban gore and gambling
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
China is implementing strict policies on the types of video games they’ll be allowing their 1.4 billion citizens to play from now on. Blood and gore are officially banned. In the past, games have skirted by this regulation by simply changing the color of blood. But this will no longer be good enough. The country is also banning games that include China’s imperial history and gambling games like Mahjong and …
Furia fall short of hometown victory as Avangar win DreamHack Rio
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Furia was set up for a storybook moment in front of a raucous home crowd at DreamHack Open Rio de Janeiro, but it couldn’t quite get the ending right. The Brazilian squad faced off with Avangar in the grand finals of the tournament and came just shy of taking the top prize, falling 2-1. Furia opened with a surprise Vertigo map pick and converted that into devastating 16-2 win to …
Valve boss Gabe Newell becomes unwitting underwear model in China
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Hundreds of Redditors were left reeling after coming across a photo of an underwear model wearing the face of Valve president Gabe Newell. The photo came from a post by a Reddit user on the r/pcmasterrace subreddit. It showcases a package of underwear with Newell’s doppelganger appearing on the front of the parcel under the brand name Long Dian. At first glance it’s hard to explain how this came to …
Astralis parent company responds to BLAST Pro Series controversy
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Fans have been grumbling about Astralis’ schedule in recent weeks. A number of huge tournaments have come and gone without the world’s best Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team participating. Astralis hasn’t been slacking, though. The team has just been focusing all its efforts into BLAST Pro Series events. That fact coupled with the BLAST Pro Series and Astralis both being owned by RFRSH Entertainment has had some fans crying foul, something …
Anti-doping official talks esports and what players are using
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Anti-doping officials don’t view adderall as much of a problem these days, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a drug problem in esports. Michele Verroken of Sporting Integrity spoke with Reuters about some of her recent work with the Esports Integrity Coalition. According to Verroken, there has been a cultural shift in esports away from adderall, but towards other substances. “The trend is to say ‘yes, we thought that Adderall …
Virtus.pro finds replacement for TOAO in new player Vegi
Steven Rondina
News
Virtus.pro has found a new fifth man for its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster. The organization announced that it has officially signed Arek “Vegi” Nawojski to the team. He replaces Mateusz “TOAO” Zawistowski, who was deactivated in March after just three months. Vegi is a fresh face on a veteran Virtus.pro team. The player first popped up in professional CS:GO in 2017 competing in various European regional events. He found a …
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.
