He’s of the opinion that Valve’s direct support of the game as an esport has made all the difference

Scott “Sirscoots” Smith has a particularly long view of Counter-Strike’s history. He’s been playing the game since the day the public beta became available in June of 1999, and over the last 15 years, he’s done everything from managing pro teams, to helping launch the esports coverage outlet GotFrag TV, to his current gig as the host of the analyst desk at Dreamhack and ESL One’s big tournaments.

He’s of the opinion that Valve’s direct support of the game as an esport has made all the difference. “For years Valve did not care at all, because it was a mod of their game, and even when they bought it and made Source, they didn’t really care, ” Smith says. “It took csgo mp9 skins forever to get things patched — it was community driven. It was fine, it thrived without them, but to have developer support of your game — especially an esport — is an incredible added bonus, especially nowadays. ”

This has become increasingly true of major esports games in recent years. Studios like League of Legends creators Riot Games have been providing huge financial support for tournaments recently, and even run their own official World Championship series. Valve has done the same for their other big esports success, DOTA 2 . Meanwhile, Blizzard has lagged behind in this regard, and the negative effect this has had on the competitive scene for StarCraft II has been notable.