These businesses anticipate an influx of player activity following the release of “CS2,” and they stand to benefit significantly from this uptick in interest. In addition to the third-party league operators and esports organizations that work directly within the competitive “Counter-Strike” space, a multitude of other tertiary businesses, such as betting and online marketplaces for in-game items, have also arisen around the game. At the end of the day, if ‘Counter-Strike’ goes well, then esports will go well.” The release of “CS2” is good news for the tertiary businesses in the “CS” ecosystem Seeing Valve investing in a new version of ‘Counter-Strike,’ investing into new content, giving it a fresh look - it’s exciting. So that’s the number one thing that we’ve been looking at and talking about, and we’d be hoping to have a couple of weeks at minimum in the new title.”ĭechelotte: “It took us four years to assemble a team that wins trophies, and then the minute they do, they fucking launch a new game, so that’s a bit scary. It’s a potential challenge that teams and league operators are taking seriously in the lead-up to “CS2.”Ĭlark: “Especially when you look at the fact that we’re running the very highest tier of competition, you can’t necessarily just instantly plug in a new game without risking the integrity of the sport. But it’s still a new title, and significant updates such as changes to the game’s smoke physics mean that the skills and strategies that propelled teams to success in “CS:GO” may simply not apply to its sequel. “CS2” is fundamentally the same game as “CS:GO,” in that the basic objectives and terminology of the game remain largely unchanged. We’re at the last ‘CS:GO’ major, and that’s very neat - that’s a big storyline for media companies.” Gameplay changes threaten to upend the competitive scene It just becomes a bit unique in the sense that you can’t play ‘Global Offensive’ ever again. It’s a forced update that was happening to the game, so you’re not buying a new version. Ryan Friend, editor-in-chief of : “In a lot of ways, things are going to change, but also in a lot of ways, things won’t. It’s a bit scary in the short term, but only positive in the long term.” Shaun Clark, senior director of game ecosystems for “CS:GO” at ESL FACEIT Group: “With this, it’s just a flick of the switch, and a new game just kind of consumes ‘CS:GO.’ In a world where they were to release the title at, say, the night before a competition, we would then be operating off a frozen build of ‘CS:GO.’ The new game would be public for everyone to play, but we’d just be operating off of frozen builds for the competition.”Īlban Dechelotte, CEO of G2 Esports: “The smooth-transition approach that Valve is offering us at least gives us a bit more time to anticipate this major shift. Notably, “CS2” will be released as a live update for all owners of “CS:GO,” unlike past “Counter-Strike” sequels, which shipped as entirely separate games. It’s unlikely to come out in the next few weeks, as the game is still undergoing a limited beta test - but leaders at esports leagues and organizations say they have been working with Valve to ensure that the transition goes smoothly, whenever the release happens. Nobody seems to know when exactly “CS2” is coming out, beyond Valve’s announcement that “CS2” would launch at some point in summer 2023. Valve has been extremely reticent about the release date of “CS2” To learn more about the effect of “CS2” on esports, Digiday spoke to representatives of some of the major stakeholders in the “Counter-Strike” ecosystem. The hype surrounding “CS2” has already led to an uptick in activity within and around “CS:GO,” and the game’s release this summer could help further rejuvenate the esports industry. “This is, in my mind, what’s kind of forcing Valve’s hand,” said GWI trends manager Matt Smith.
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