Counter-Strike 2 News

Prepare to get your feet wet in the latest Counter-Strike: Global Offensive maps

A fresh Counter-Strike: Global Offensive update is out and Valve has done some map rotations to keep it all fresh. Prepare to get your feet wet.

BOOM Esports signs 13-year-old as CS:GO tournament backup

BOOM Esports is bringing on a 13-year old as a backup player for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The Brazilian kid João "⁠Snowzin⁠" Vinicius won't be part of the main team for BOOM but his potential to be a pro player full time is already being discussed (via HLTV).

Snowzin apparently streams his skills regularly and has started to impress many viewers. This led BOOM to invite him to be part of its Gamers Club Masters V roster - a competition that will see many of the best South American CS teams compete against one another.

According to a short interview posted on the BOOM Esports Twitter account, Snowzin started playing CS:GO three years ago and his main inspirations are Epitácio "TACO" de Melo, Ricardo 'Boltz' Prass, and João 'Felps⁠' Vasconcellos.

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ESL One Cologne will be held online this year

The coronavirus pandemic is making a lot of esports organisations think outside of the box. Whether it be being delaying competitions entirely, like Dota 2's The International 10, or putting a league online, there are now ways to get around the health restrictions. For ESL One Cologne they're opting to put the event online - and also split itself in four.

A tweet from the ESL Counter-Strike Twitter account announced the decision with a video of the ESL trophy splitting itself into four like the competition is. "After extensive research of global travel regulations, ESLOne Cologne 2020 will happen online. We are going to split the trophy across four regional divisions in Europe, North America, Asia and Oceania from 18th - 30th of August" says the tweet.

In a longer post on the ESL One website, it explains that the teams were determined on the ESL One Cologn qualification rules set, and although these teams will be awarded ESL Pro Tour points as normal, the competition will not count towards the ESL Pro Tour Masters Championship event.

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Twitch star Gaules apologises for CS:GO cheating allegations fallout

He has been one of the biggest streamers on Twitch, however Counter-Strike: Global Offensive streamer Alexandre 'Gaules' Borba has been forced to give his "sincere apologies" after a section of his fan base terrorised pro players that he had accused of cheating.

Following Brazilian team MIBR's shock defeat to underdogs Chaos, Gaules - who attracts hundreds of thousands of viewers to his CS:GO esports watch parties - accused the latter of cheating, in particularly two of its young stars Nathan 'Leaf' Orf and Erick 'Xeppaa' Bach. He resurfaced these claims a few days later. This caused supporters of the streamer and the Brazilian CS:GO community as a whole to launch a barrage of hateful messages towards the two Chaos players, including in some cases death threats.

This shocked the majority of the CS:GO scene, who denounced Gaules and the Brazilian fans responsible. Gaules has until now stood by the events of the last few weeks, with many in the Brazilian community alleging that outside scrutiny of their actions was due to racism.

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Astralis players reportedly earn $360,000 a year

Denmark is oozing with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive talent. From Astralis to North, Mad Lions, and Heroic, there's a lot of incredibly talented players in Denmark who have worked their way to the top. But despite becoming a dominating force, no one's quite sure how much players are earning - until now.

According to a recent report from BT.DK [via], which looks into the salaries before tax of the country's star players, Astralis leads the way when it comes to salaries. Each of the five core players apparently take home $360,000 a year before prize money and sponsorship. Their fairly hefty monthly wage is therefore just over $30,000.

If you compare that to the likes of North, which currently sits at #24 in the world rankings, it's a little bit different. Since the salaries of players were negotiated on individual terms, BT doesn't have an overall figure, but it does have an average. According to the report, a North salary is worth $229,000, which boils down to a monthly wage of $18,315 per month.

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