5 Counter-Strike Questions Answered
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is entering the midway point of 2020 as the world’s leading Esport, having gone from strength to strength throughout 2019 with bigger sponsorships and improved infrastructure, and building on its core following as competitive video gaming continues to surge in popularity around the world.
Boasting a fanbase of over 1 million concurrent players, the game is fast-paced, action-packed and one of the most popular games to check out and watch on sites such as Twitch or YouTube. Expect to see plenty more of Counter-Strike coming in the months and years ahead, and kick things off by taking a look at 5 key questions about the game right here.
Where / How Can I Play Counter-Strike?
Valve Corporation own both Counter-Strike and video gaming platform Steam and they made the decision to move the game to a free-to-play model in December 2018. It was a move that made a lot of sense given where the industry on the whole has been moving towards, and the results have already been impressive.
All you need is an email address for a Steam account and access to the world’s best Esport.
Who Are The Best Players In The Counter-Strike World?
The last year or so has been dominated by the discussion over who is the world’s best Counter-Strike player, with Astralis’ ‘Device’, Vitality’s ‘Zywhoo’ and Natus Vincere’s ‘S1mple’ all decent shouts for the title of the game’s number one.
Device has the honour of calling himself the world’s most decorated player at Major events, claiming the most amount of in-game MVP awards mainly during Astralis’ unprecedented two year reign at the top of the tree.
2020 has begun with a very different feel to it however. The Intel Extreme World Championships in Katowice earlier this year put S1mple right back at the top of the rankings and crowned as the world’s undisputed best player with an MVP award for the tournament.
Who Are The Best Teams In The Counter-Strike World?
Astralis were the undisputed kings of Counter-Strike coming into the close of 2019, having romped to both Major titles at Katowice and Berlin during the year. StarLadder Berin marked the Danish side’s third title triumph in a row and was their fourth Major title in their history, a record in the game.
Since then however, the whole landscape has evolved into being far more competitive for sides across the world. Natus Vincere’s win in Katowice took them to the top of the world rankings, however teams like Mousesport, Faze Clan, G2 and Fnatic are all nipping at their heels and have more than enough talent to knock any side off their perch on their day.
What Are The Biggest Counter-Strike Events?
Big Esports companies such as DreamHack or ESL regularly organise events around the world for fans to tune into and cheer their teams on. Events are organised into tiers from C-Tier, all the way to S-Tiers and Valve Major Championships. Prize pools for these events regularly push into the $1 million mark thanks to sponsorships from companies such as Intel and Mastercard.
The studio environments and live, arena-filled atmospheres have been replaced by online formats following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the events are still drawing in record numbers of fans, with IEM Katowice and Season 11 of ESL Pro League smashing viewership records on their own.
Can You Play Counter-Strike Professionally?
There are a whole host of ways of earning money through Counter-Strike, whether it be via in-game skins for your weapons, various cryptocurrencies or just pure cold cash. Sites like Unikrn.com now offer the chance to place wagers on your favourite sides, enter into jackpot competitions for in-game loot and even earn money by backing yourself in a game.
Counter-Strike is full of local and LAN tournaments for players of all skills to enter into and get themselves on the ladder. The opportunities will only continue to rise as the game continues to grow from landmark to landmark, so there’s really never been a better to jump in and get involved.