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Esports catching major league sports in prediction market volume
League of Legends and Counter-Strike 2 matches are seeing trading volumes that are nearing those of major league sports at prediction markets. An analysis of Polymarket trading over the past year found an average of over $1 million was traded on LoL matches, with the highest match recording $28.3...
Competitive Shooters Like Counter-Strike 2 Can Reach New Popularity Heights On Android Smartphones, As Sustained Performance Mod Allows Game To Stay Above 100FPS
It’s a solid claim that high-end Android smartphones pack sufficient compute and graphics horsepower to bulldoze through any tasks, including gaming, and it’s just their cooling systems and high power limits that are holding these devices back. Well, one modder has enabled his Nubia Z70 Ultra to...
“I think we can close the gap”: The Honor of Kings World Cup showed China that some countries are not far behind
Every region has a game that dominates its gaming ecosystem. Korea has League of Legends. Pakistan has Tekken. Japan has Street Fighter. Southeast Asia has Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. Europe has Counter-Strike 2. Meanwhile, China has a strong footprint in all games, but there is one game that they...
Can Counter-Strike 2 break the EWC 2026 viewership record?
The Esports World Cup (EWC) mega-event is well underway in Paris, boasting an eye-watering $75 million prize pool, spread across 25 tournaments and 24 titles. As one of the most significant remaining events, Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) runs from Aug. 12–23, with 32 of the best teams lighting up the...
BLAST Open Porto 2026 preview: schedule, format, teams, and more
BLAST Premier returns to Portugal, but this time it’s breaking new ground. After three stops in Lisbon, BLAST Open Porto 2026 will take the world’s top Counter-Strike 2 teams to Porto for the first time – all fighting for a cut of a $1.1 million prize pool. Taking place right after the Esports...
TikTok Live crosses 50% of global streaming market as CS2 leads Q2 2026 esports charts
Stream Hatchet's Q2 2026 report shows TikTok Live surpassing all legacy platforms combined, while Counter-Strike 2 dethroned League of Legends as the most-watched esports title of the quarter.
Risk without reward: Counter-Strike 2’s new sticker system threatens the entire esports scene’s structure
There’s a lot of buzz in the Counter-Strike community right now, and it has to do with Major stickers. Valve recently changed how Major sticker sales work at IEM Cologne 2026, ditching the capsule system we’ve used for decades in favor of a token shop where you just buy the sticker you want for a …...
Which CS2 Skin Sites Take the Smallest Cut? Fees Compared!
All players of Counter-Strike 2 know the joy of opening an uncommon knife or getting a prized drop of a weapon. Unfortunately, once it comes time to exchange or improve your collection, the realization of just how much you lose through fees can be disappointing. Many traders lose hundreds of...
Palworld 1.0 briefly overtook the king of Steam, Counter-Strike 2, and devs can't help but bask in the victory: "Let me enjoy this moment for just a little longer"
Palworld recently got its long-awaited 1.0 update, with patch notes so big they can only be described as monstrous – and boy, has it brought in a lot of players. In fact, the survival gem saw its new full release spur enormous player numbers – and loads of positive reviews on Steam to boot. In...
Palworld 1.0 briefly overtook the king of Steam, Counter-Strike 2, and devs can't help but bask in the victory: "Let me enjoy this moment for just a little longer"
Pocketpair publishing lead Bucky just wants to "pause" for a minute
Is Counter-Strike 2 going soft? Esports fans react to new comms rule and debate hate speech vs. trash talk
Leading tournament organizer ESL has just updated its Counter-Strike 2 rulebook, adding a bunch of changes. However, one that stuck out was a new clause regarding internal team communications during a live match. The newly-added Clause 2.30 states that what you say to your own teammates during a...
Is Hellcase Legit or a Scam? A Full Platform Review
When it comes to opening Counter-Strike 2 cases online, the first thing every player worries about is the platform’s reliability. Buying virtual items always carries some uncertainty, especially with so many controversial stories swirling around. Hellcase is one of the better-known platforms in...
Valve has rewired Counter-Strike 2's bomb to make it more spectacular, but potentially less deadly
Bomb has been supplanted.
New Counter-Strike 2 Map Has Players Rescuing Dogs Instead Of Hostages, And That’s Very Nice
A new, fan-made map for Valve's free shooter Counter-Strike 2 has a unique spin on the game's popular Hostage Rescue mode, having players instead rescue dogs in danger. The "Shelter" map (via Dexerto) takes place in a fictionalized suburban animal shelter, as players race to stop "Phoenix...
Valve just changed how CS2's bomb works, and it's terrifying
The Counter-Strike 2 Season 5 update is here, with a bomb damage rework, new map rotations and armory skins, and a curious grenade command. Read the full story on PCGamesN: Valve just changed how CS2's bomb works, and it's terrifying
A current Valve designer recreated Half-Life 2's Ravenholm in the Source 2 engine, and says he was "blown away at how powerful these tools are"
Before taking on the role of level designer at Valve, game developer Chuck Wilson toyed with recreating Half-Life 2 levels in Source 2. In case you're out of the loop, Source 2 is Valve's most recent iteration of its in-house engine, powering games like Counter-Strike 2, Deadlock, and Half-Life:...
Counter-Strike 2 might be the biggest game on Steam, but Global Offensive is breaking player count records since it went standalone again
nytime you're talking about the hottest game on Steam, there's an evergreen unspoken caveat: 'after Counter-Strike, of course.' CS2 is unquestionably Steam's killer app—it has well over a million concurrent players as I write this according to SteamDB, and it's showing no signs of slowing down. But...
Counter-Strike 2 might be the biggest game on Steam, but Global Offensive is breaking player count records since it went standalone again
Do not pass GO.
Counter-Strike 2 is clearly winning the viewership war against VALORANT after the IEM Cologne Major 2026… For now
Viewership is frequently used to determine whether a notable esports tournament is a success or a failure. High figures often grab the headlines, with some tournaments peaking at several million viewers, matching or exceeding those of traditional sporting spectacles. Between June 19th and 21st,...
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