Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Vici Gaming upsets Na`Vi even as s1mple dominates the field
Steven Rondina
Natus Vincere’s run at StarSeries & i-League CS:GO Season 7 is off to a bad start. Despite entering the event as the favorites to win, the Ukrainian squad opened in Shanghai with an upset loss at the hands of Vici Gaming. Not only was the loss an upset, but Na’Vi was stomped twice during the three-game series. Right from the start on Inferno, things seemed off for Na’Vi. Despite winning a …
Counter-Strike
Veterans Ex6TenZ and ScreaM find new home in Team GamerLegion
Steven Rondina
Esports organization Team GamerLegion has entered the world of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The brand announced the signing of the European team Uruguay3 on its website. The squad is headlined by veteran talents Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom and Kevin “Ex6TenZ” Droolans, alongside former OpTic Gaming player Kevin “HS” Tarn, former GODSENT captain Hampus “hampus” Poser, and coach Christian “Chrille” Lindberg. The team previously competed with William “draken” Sundin, who recently split from …
Counter-Strike
NRG Esports at full strength for StarSeries after visa resolution
Steven Rondina
NRG Esports’ Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team will be able to compete at full strength at StarSeries & i-League CS:GO Season 7. After two days of worrying, NRG confirmed that AWPer Cvetelin “CeRq” Dimitrov will be able to compete in Shanghai. Visa troubles threatened to scuttle the new NRG’s first big event together, but the team revealed that the Bulgarian was able to make the trek to China. This is great …
Counter-Strike
As CajunB’s contract with OpTic Gaming ends, team adds Niko and MSL
Steven Rondina
OpTic Gaming has begun a heavy restructuring of its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team. The organization announced the departure of René “cajunb” Borg after 13 months with the side. “Today we wish CajunB well as he makes his departure from our CSGO roster,” OpTic said on Twitter. “We look forward to seeing his continued success in Counter-Strike.” Shortly thereafter, OpTic announced the signing of former Rogue players Mathias “MSL” Lauridsen and …
Counter-Strike
Former Counter-Strike pro gets caught hacking live on stream
Olivia Richman
Former Counter-Srike pro player Kristoff “faken” Andersson lived up to his gamer tag in a recent stream when he was caught using wall-hacking cheats. While streaming a game on Mirage, Twitch users noticed a peculiar reflection in faken’s glasses. In a widely shared clip from the stream, viewers noticed a red player model moving in the reflection of his glasses, despite the player in question being behind a wall. Faken …
Counter-Strike
Team Envy adds 16-year-old s0m, ex-NRG player FugLy to roster
Steven Rondina
Team Envy has finished retooling its roster in the wake of its Katowice Major flop. The organization revealed its new lineup on Twitter. Joining Josh “jdm64” Marzano and Noah “Nifty” Francis on the team are former CompLexity Gaming members Sam “s0m” Oh and Bradley “ANDROID” Fodor, as well as ex-NRG Esports lurker Jacob “FugLy” Medina. The lineup is an intriguing one, but leaves some unanswered questions. FugLy joins following a …
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike player Atta Elayyan a victim of New Zealand attack
Olivia Richman
Former competitive Counter-Strike player Atta “crazyarab” Elayyan was confirmed as one of the 50 victims of the Christchurch shooting in New Zealand. The 33-year-old Palestinian man won local and online Counter-Strike tournaments in the early 2000s, as part of the New Zeland team NewType. Elayyan recalled his teammates being “insanely hell bent on winning.” Their practice schedule of seven hours per night seemed to pay off when they began to …
Counter-Strike
Cloud9 reportedly target k0nfig and JUGi to replace kioShiMa
William Davis
According to a report on Dexerto, Cloud9 will be making a dramatic roster change in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The North American esports organization is expected to part ways with rifler Fabian “kioShiMa” Fiey. Most fan predictions have the French player joining Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom, who is separately reported to be forming a new CS:GO squad under the TSM banner. Cloud9 is looking to respond to the news by snagging Danish …
Windigo takes top prize at WESG over AGO Esports in surprise final
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Windigo Gaming has won its biggest tournament to date. The team secured first-place at the World Electronic Sports Games 2018 Finals by defeating AGO Esports. It capped a run that may serve as a turning point for the European squad. The series started off with a pair of knock down, drag out games. Though Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is a five versus five affair in practice, the first game between Windigo …
Gambit Esports starts rebuilding CS:GO team, cuts Bondik, coach B1ad3
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Gambit Esports is ready to make some changes to its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive division. The former Krakow Major champion revealed on Twitter that it is releasing coach Andrey “B1ad3” Gorodenskiy and trial player Vlаdуslаv “bondik” Nеchуроrchuk. The pair now enter a crowded free agency field, and Gambit joins what is likely to be a hectic shuffle season for the CIS region. “Even though B1ad3 put a lot of effort, he …
Fnatic eliminated from WESG by AGO Esports after 16-0 loss
Steven Rondina
News
Fnatic’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is reeling after being shut out by an underdog opponent. The Swedish organization suffered an embarrassing loss at the hands of Poland’s AGO Esports in the semifinals of the 2018 World Electronic Sports Games. This comes just weeks after a flop at the 2019 Katowice Major. For a time, it seemed that WESG was going to be a nice rebound for the popular team. Fnatic dodged …
MiBR eliminated early from WESG 2019 by Windigo Gaming
Steven Rondina
News
China just doesn’t seem to agree with the MiBR crew. For the second consecutive year, Brazil’s top Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team has suffered a surprise defeat at the World Electronic Sports Games in China. Despite entering the event as the favorite to win, MiBR was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the playoffs by Windigo Gaming. MiBR’s run in the tournament was a short one. Despite being initially booked into a …
Shroud returns to streaming just days after scary scooter accident
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Michael “shroud” Grzesiek is on the road to recovery. The popular streamer and former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro is out of the hospital and already back to streaming. He announced the news on Twitter. Initially, it seemed like Shroud was going to be booked for a lengthy hospital stay. Though his surgery was successful, a course of antibiotics was set to extend his stay under doctor supervision. However, three hours …
New Mousesports CS:GO lineup featuring ChrisJ, Karrigan revealed
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
The new Mousesports Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team has been revealed. After a number of twists and turns, the European organization announced its new roster consisting of Chris “chrisJ” de Jong, Robin “ropz” Kool, Finn “karrigan” Andersen, Özgür “woxic” Eker, and David “frozen” Čerňanský. The revelation was made on the team’s official site. Big changes have been expected for Mousesports’ roster. Despite having a generally solid 2018 that included several first-place …
CS:GO patch changes economy bonuses, AUG and shotgun costs
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Some big changes have come to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in the wake of the 2019 Katowice Major. A huge patch for the game dropped with many of the popular gripes of pro players and amateurs alike being addressed. Included are micro tweaks to weapon costs and how KDA totals are tallied, but also larger changes to the game’s economy. The most important change came to how loss bonuses are calculated. …
Twitch streamer Shroud injured, requires surgery after scooter accident
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
The streamer and former CS:GO star seriously injured his left arm. Michael “shroud” Grzesiek’s was involved in a major road accident. Just days after hitting a major milestone on Twitch, the former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player landed in the hospital. Shroud alluded to being involved in a scooter accident on Twitter, and revealed shortly after that he required surgery on his left arm. While Shroud himself hasn’t gone into detail …
Shroud tops 100,000 subs on Twitch, quadruples Ninja’s sub total
Steven Rondina
News
Michael “shroud” Grzesiek has hit a big milestone. The popular streamer has topped 100,000 subscribers on Twitch. The moment came live on stream with Shroud celebrating the occasion with his fans, and the subs kept rolling in afterward. He added 10,000 more in the immediate aftermath. 2018 was a huge year for Shroud. Entering the year as a retired Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player, he was still under contract with former …
FACEIT and Pinnacle partner for ECS Pinnacle Cup
Jared Wynne
Counter-Strike
FACEIT has announced a new partnership with Pinnacle promoting its Esports Championship Series competition. The partnership will cover seasons 7 and 8 of the ECS Pinnacle Cup, formerly known as the ECS Challenger Cup, through which top Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams compete for potential spots in the ECS. The ECS Pinnacle Cup features 32 teams split evenly between North American and European regions. Teams compete in swiss stages to determine …
ChrisJ hints at signing with BIG in social media posts
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Chris “chrisJ” de Jong could soon have a new home. The Counter-Strike: Global Offensive star and longtime member of Mousesports took to social media and teased that he has signed with a new team. Though he did not explicitly state where he is headed, his post on Instagram stated “BIG news coming this week” and included a German flag. These two things suggest ChrisJ is headed to BIG. BIG making …
Ninjas in Pyjamas brings back Draken to replace Dennis
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Dennis “dennis” Edman is taking a step back from competitive Counter-Strike. Ninjas in Pyjamas announced that dennis would be taking some time off due to health concerns following the 2019 Katowice Major. He will remain a member of NiP, with William “draken” Sundin returning to the team as a stand-in. The severity of his condition is unknown, with NiP stating on its website that dennis was “experiencing some energy fatigue …
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.
