Counter-Strike is one of the gaming world’s most successful first person shooter series, growing from a fan-made modification for Valve’s Half-Life 2 to a fully formed series of four major titles at the time of writing. The latest release in the series, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), was released all the way back in 2012, and has grown to become one of the most stacked competitive Esport titles in the world with a player base of over a million concurrent active players.
The game’s popularity has already survived the test of time, and its growth shows no signs of slowing even as it approaches its decade anniversary. With so much value circulating around the game and its various competitive communities, here’s how you can make money from your love for all things Counter-Strike.
Esports Betting
Just like with the real world sports world, betting on competitive video game matches has become big business amongst fans of specific titles within the Esports sphere. As mentioned in the opening paragraph, CS:GO is one of the most stacked and hotly followed Esport titles in the industry, with a competition or event available for fans to follow almost every week.
There are active organisations and teams from all four corners of the globe, with these teams boasting huge sponsorships with multinational companies ranging from Monster, Alienware, Gucci and Renault. Prize pools attached to the tournaments these compete in can often stretch into the millions of dollars, with hundreds of thousands of viewers around the world tuning in to watch the action unfold on online streaming platforms such as Twitch.tv or YouTube, both combining to make the stakes attached to these competitive CS:GO games all the more enticing from a wagering perspective.
Whether it’s betting on the outright winner or specific score on a match or competition, or taking advantage of live in play odds provided by a bookmaker once a series has gone live, Esports betting is a diverse and blossoming industry that promises to keep growing over the coming years, with CS:GO right at the heart of it.
Skill Gaming
If wagering on the professional competitive scene of CS:GO isn’t your thing, there’s always the option of making money playing games yourself. CS:GO has proven to be one of the most popular titles for new and innovative skill gaming platforms that allow gamers to back themselves in the server to flourish, with the likes of Unikrn.com utilising unique blockchain technologies in a player vs. house wagering format.
The way it works is the bookmaker (house) will offer promotions or odds on a title such as CS:GO on challenges based on a performance in the server, which can range from something as generic as winning the next ranked match they play, all the way to more game-specific objectives such as planting the most amount of bombs or getting the most frags by the end of a game. This form of wagering not only allows CS:GO fans to live out their dreams by making money from their passion and playing their favourite game, but it allows for greater flexibility in terms of the types of bets a user places.
