Counter-Strike: One of the oldest games with one of the highest prize pools in Esports tournaments.
Counter-strike, one of the oldest and world’s biggest games, was originally developed as a mod from the legendary Half-Life back in 1999. Video game developer Valve saw the potential in the mod. He found the developers Le and Cliffe and the rest is HISTORY. Valve bought the intellectual property of Counter-Strike and released, together with Le and Cliffe, the first non-beta version of the game in September 2000 on PC.
Counter-Strike became the most distinguished game of the early 2000s and as more and more people started playing it, the Counter-Strike community just kept getting bigger. When Esports was a strange concept to many people, Counter-Strike made it seem so easy. Anyone could just go online and play a match with friends or strangers. It was accessible to everyone, which was the primary reason for its popularity.
In today’s games, we see a lot of features that Counter-Strike first introduced. Be it Realistic recoil patterns for the guns, payment system, multiple objectives respawns — Counter-Strike is one of the most influential multiplayer games ever created.
The sequels and advancements
With changes coming into the world of Esports every day, Counter-Strike managed to stand the test of time. New mechanics and features were being introduced frequently and with that came Counter-Strike: Condition Zero, a single-player game in 2004. Although it couldn’t stand up to the hype so, soon after, the developers released exactly what the fandom wanted, Counter-Strike: Source, consequently retaining its team-based, objective-oriented, first-person, shooter-style gameplay. It was around the same time, the Esports community started getting recognition and gaming became a place of competition, rather than just ‘fun’.
And with this boost in the gaming industry, Valve knew that they had to come up with something that would keep up with the everyday changes in the industry and would satisfy their audience, which led to the birth of the game that we all know about, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The developers knew what they needed at that particular time. They stuck to their roots but added the minor modern features that were essential for the ever-growing Esports community at that time. The developers (Valve, Le, and Cliffe) knew the most important factor that would influence their brand image and that is their audience, the Counter-Strike community. And they always did what the audience wanted and that is the reason that has helped Counter-Strike to stand the test of time.
Even after 21 years of its release, Counter-Strike has stuck to its roots and the loyal community of the game has always driven it forward. Its relevance is still what it was years ago.
Impact of Counter-Strike on the Esports culture
As the popularity and community of Counter-Strike kept on increasing, it has become a big name in the Esports industry. Currently, CS:GO is the most popular shooter game among the Western countries in the gaming industry, as well as one of the largest Esports disciplines worldwide. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive features an open tournament system. With many tournaments being organised from time to time, the CS community has emerged as a strong competitor on the global level. ELEAGUE Major 2017 remains the discipline’s most popular tournament, with its finals being watched by 1 million 337 thousand viewers.
Counter-Strike has got one of the biggest prize pools in Esports tournaments. Since the time it was released, CS: GO has awarded a total of $129,436,068.91 from 6082 Tournaments. So, there’s no doubt about the success and fame of CS in the Esports world. In 2016, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was named Esport of the year at Esports Industry Awards.
The gameplay is easy and quick to understand. Many of today’s games have taken up features from Counter-Strike because of their easy-to-understand gameplay techniques. Despite the regular updates and versions, Counter-Strike is still synonymous with easy to understand, difficult to master but always competitive, and these factors have helped it to retain its title and position as one of the most relevant and up-going games of the current eSports scenario.
There’s no doubt that Counter-Strike has become a household name now. From the early 20s kids to the Gen-Zs, everyone knows and loves the game.
In Half-Life people could customize certain maps, and it was through this map editor that Counter-Strike was born. There are more than 25 official maps in the game to date and a lot of other maps created by players of the game. There are multiple weapon options available in the game, including broad categories of pistols, shotguns, SMGs, assault rifles, snipers, etc. With each update, Counter-Strike featured new weapons. This made the game even more fun for the players.
Future of Counter-Strike
With the introduction of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and its entry into the world of Esports, the developers were able to recreate an entirely new brand image for the game. Although its popularity hasn’t reached the peak level in India, all of us can’t deny the fact that we’ve played Counter-Strike: Condition Zero once in our childhood. The developers are always adding and updating new features to the game and making it on par with the trends. With the ever-growing community of gamers and organizers in the Esports culture, Counter-Strike can only be expected to grow its community in the upcoming time.
That’s it about Counter-Strike in this segment. To learn more about gaming and Esports, follow Tournafest on all social media handles and keep the game going!
Until then, Live it for gaming!
