https://www.cybersport.ru/counter-strike-go/articles/kambek-gambit-uspekhi-navi-i-pervye-shagi-ot-esic-chto-khoroshego-bylo-v-counter-strike-v- grustnom-2020-godu

Discipline did not remain without tournaments – primarily thanks to ESL and BLAST

It would seem that only the ESL Pro League finally gave up on the exhausting and incredibly long (and sometimes meaningless) online part, as the scene returned to where it started. If a year ago, online championships were primarily needed by promising shooting range-2 squads, now everyone, even the top teams, is in the spell of an endless series of games.

But no matter how many professional players complain about online, they should be grateful that the scene, in principle, did not remain without top events. Yes, not the same intensity of passions. Yes, again matches with the same teams. But, importantly, top tournament operators have retained large prize pools – and this is against the backdrop of widespread cuts and cuts in salaries.

ESL (including DreamHack) and BLAST have a lot to be criticized for, but they really care about the esports ecosystem. For a couple, both TOs held dozens of championships (and in different regions) with prize funds from $ 160 thousand to $ 500 thousand. In addition, the Flashpoint league from FACEIT finally started, which, although it did not impose competition on ESL (although it was very threatened), but helped many teams to prove themselves – and in two more seasons the organizers played as much as $ 2 million.

At the tier-2 level, the teams were greatly helped by the Maltese tournament operator Eden Esports, who held ten Malta Vibes events. Interestingly, seven of them were won by teams from the CIS. In addition, do not forget about Beyond the Summit and WePlay – unlike StarLadder, both companies did not abandon Counter-Strike and organized Regional Major Rankings in the tournament series.

2020 proved that the CS scene is the most alive. Until Valve knows what to do, tournament operators take matters into their own hands and are not afraid to take risks (and large online events are precisely the risk). The organizers are acting not only for financial reasons – they really love Counter-Strike. It is enough to recall Carmac’s most emotional speech at the closing ceremony of IEM Katowice 2023, and everything will become clear.

ESIC is the international esports Integrity Commission. To put it simply, this is an initiative group, which at one time grew out of the ESL, which takes various disciplinary measures in relation to teams and tournaments. ESIC solutions are mandatory for most of the top TOs – ESL, BLAST, DreamHack and WePlay. Its decisions do not apply to the rest of the organizers, but are of a recommendatory nature. However, few would risk disobeying ESIC, as it unites almost all the leading forces of the discipline.

In 2023, ESIC was primarily remembered for the decision to ban 37 coaches who used the bug to spy on opponents right during the games. Perhaps this was the biggest scandal in the top echelon of the scene after the ban of the iBUYPOWER members. The regulator acts independently, and it is not publicly known whether it coordinates its decisions with Valve – however, it is almost certainly the case.

ESIC’s activities seem dubious to many. ForZe was especially indignant about this, who defended her mentor lmbt with all her might (and ultimately proved his innocence). Nevertheless, it is already clear that ESIC in Counter-Strike is serious and for a long time. And it is likely that over time Valve will finally give the regulation of esports in Counter-Strike to this particular commission.

However, ESIC is in no hurry to show its strength. For example, after the coaches were banned, the regulator investigated the topic of streamsniping in professional matches and … did not apply any sanctions to anyone, although it found examples of team foul play. Probably ESIC understands all the subtleties of stage regulation and does not want to accidentally destroy everything that has been created for many years. But in 2023 we will almost certainly only hear more about her.

The game lives on without updates

CS: GO hasn’t changed at all for almost the entire year. Against the background of the cancellation of LAN tournaments, Valve, it would seem, completely abandoned not only the esports scene, but also the game itself. The only important thing that the developers have done is the SG 553 nerf. And it happened back in April, the rest of the time the game remained the same.

Despite the lack of updates, CS: GO continues to break records online. Throughout the spring, the monthly audience of the game ranged from 1 to 1.3 million people – so many have never been. The statistics, of course, can be a little misleading: nevertheless, hundreds of cheaters are regularly banned in the game, who immediately create new accounts. But taking this into account, the game at least did not lose interest of the audience.

Valve was honored for a large-scale update only at the end of the year, but the wait was worth it. In addition to the content brought into the shooter with Operation Broken Fang, CS: GO also has new in-game features – first of all, of course, we are talking about the ping system. This is indeed an extremely important innovation, which greatly simplifies communication between teammates who cannot speak the same language. Of course, along with the patch, critical bugs appeared, but how can we go without them. Moreover, Valve usually fixes such errors extremely quickly.

Finally, I would like to note that, no matter how the game is buried, it is still alive and feels great. Yes, Valorant took a lot of media players away from Counter-Strike, but the discipline does just fine without them. Young and unknown guys regularly appear in CS: GO, and immediately become some of the best on the stage. It would seem that only yesterday ScreaM was one of the main faces of Counter-Strike, and now his younger brother plays for the second strongest team in the world. Oh CS, you are the world!