Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike pro caught cheating at tournament
Steven Rondina
Fans that stayed up to watch the eXTREMESLAND Asia Counter-Strike tournament got a bit of a shock. While facing Vietnamese team Revolution, Nikhil “Forsaken” Kumawat of OpTic India was caught cheating. The announcement was made following a lengthy pause in action, and was followed by the ejection of his team from the event. https://twitter.com/CSGO2ASIA/status/1053188955615588352 According to CSGO2Asia.com, during OpTic India’s second map against Revolution, Forsaken was flagged for suspicious activity …
Counter-Strike
Mouz deny Liquid at ESL One New York
Steven Rondina
Mousesports’ Counter-Strike team is back in business. After an ugly showing at the FACEIT Major: London, the European side returned to form at ESL One: New York. There, it battled its way to the top of the tournament, taking first place and the $125,000 prize. ESL One: New York started well for Mouz, as the team went 2-0 to take first place in its group, which also included Gambit Esports, …
Counter-Strike
Astralis defeat Na`Vi to win London Major
Steven Rondina
Astralis are once again Counter-Strike major champions. The Danish team took the top prize at FACEIT Major: London, sweeping Natus Vincere in the tournament’s grand finals. It was a great ending to what was a nearly flawless performance by the Danes. Astralis’ major began with a strong run through the New Challengers Stage, as the team advanced with a 3-1 record that included wins over CompLexity Gamging, Rogue, and Team …
Counter-Strike
Top groups at FACEIT Major: London
Steven Rondina
The New Legends Stage at the FACEIT Major: London has wrapped up with some surprising teams making the playoffs. Topping the groups with 3-0 records are North American staples Team Liquid and CompLexity Gaming. Astralis, Natus Vincere, and BIG all made the cut at 3-1. FaZe Clan, HellRaisers, and Made in Brazil round out the eight-team New Champions Stage, sneaking in with 3-2 records. These teams have advanced to the …
Counter-Strike
Fans aren’t happy with new Virtus.pro uniforms
Steven Rondina
Virtus Pro is going to look very different heading into events like The International 2018 and the FACEIT Major: London, but not because of any roster moves. The Russian organization revealed a new jersey and logo, ditching its traditional black and orange colors in favor of a new green and purple look. Check it out: Initial reactions from fans were resoundingly negative, with many saying they missed the previous color …
Counter-Strike
The Imperial take home surprise DreamHack trophy
Jared Wynne
DreamHack’s latest summer event saw an unexpected winner as The Imperial took home first place. The Imperial managed a 2-0 win over OpTic Gaming in the grand final to take home their $50,000 cut of the prize pool. The participants list consisted of six invited teams along with qualifiers The Imperial and North America’s compLexity. Group A saw The Imperial and North wiping out AGO Esports and …
Counter-Strike
Complexity and Rogue secure London Major spots
Jared Wynne
FACEIT’s Major qualifier for the Americas region saw compLexity and Rogue winning spots at the next Counter-Strike major. The grand final saw Rogue and compLexity battling it out for the bigger share of the $50,000 prize pool. After a landslide 16-3 victory for compLexity on Mirage, they achieved a more difficult 16-14 victory on Dust 2, giving them the set victory by a 2-0 margin. So it was that compLexity would go …
Counter-Strike
NiP, OpTic triumphant at Europe Minor
gabhernandez
Ninjas In Pyjamas secured their qualifying spot in the FACEIT Major alongside OpTic Gaming. NiP faced OpTic Gaming during the Europe Minor Championship on July 22. While OpTic Gaming has a strong showing, NiP proved to hold the competitive edge and shut out Optic during the finals. Throughout the entire tournament, NiP were looked at as a strong contender for qualification. Beating both Sprout and ENCE during their road to …
North emerge victorious at DreamHack Valencia
Jared Wynne
Counter-Strike
The latest iteration of the DreamHack Open tournament series saw North demonstrate their newfound potential for dominance. North effortlessly swept Luminosity Gaming with a 2-0 victory in the grand final at DreamHack Valencia, taking home their $50,000 share of the total $100,000 prize pool. The city of Valencia, Spain served as hub for the two-day event. Five invited teams were in attendance, joined by three qualifiers: Fragsters …
Na`Vi win Big at ESL One Cologne
gabhernandez
Counter-Strike
Sixteen teams from around the world came to Cologne, Germany in the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive cathedral for five days in hopes of walking away with the grand prize of $125,000. Na’Vi’s victory at the tournament secured their first placement in Intel’s Grand Slam, the upcoming culmination of all Dreamhack and ESL tournaments. Natus Vincere had a rocky start but recovered to strong-arm their way out of the losers bracket as they …
The Next Counter-Strike Major Comes to Katowice
gabhernandez
Counter-Strike
Intel and Valve have announced that the Intel Extreme Masters World Championship will return to Katowice in 2019. Players and fans can look forward to three weeks of tournaments beginning on February 14 and running through March 3. The winner of the IEM World Championship will gain the winner’s share of the $1,000,000 prize pool, as well as an additional point towards the Intel Grand Slam. From February 14-20, the …
HellRaisers and Team Spirit Earn Major Spots
gabhernandez
Counter-Strike
Hellraisers and Team Spirit have both qualified to the FACEIT Major London after playing their way to the CIS Minor finals. HellRaisers managed to beat Team Spirit 2-1 to take the top prize in the tournament. Of the eight participating teams, both HellRaisers and Team Spirit were looked at as top contenders as the two squads have seen some success in recent months. While HellRaisers had a strong showing throughout …
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.
