Platforms: PC

Players familiar with the classic Counter-Strike formula will appreciate Valorant for its unique hero shooter spin. Valorant pins squads of heroes against each other in a futuristic narrative where the light itself becomes weaponized - alongside a wide variety of technological advanceme

Over the last few weeks, many people simultaneously came forward accusing ItsSliker of defrauding them out of significant amounts of money. Contacting friends, other streamers, and long-term fans, Sliker asked for various sums of money over the course of several years under the false pretenses of a locked bank account and the desire to pay the loan back with interest. Never paying back any of his victims, Sliker would instead use the funds to extend what he described as a serious gambling addiction, in which he fell into a self-destructive spi

Of all the map revisions, Inferno is likely the most faithful to the original with so little changed that it would be more apt to call it a facelift. Then again, it's not all that surprising so little was changed about the map since there were very few flaws with the map in general. Inferno is renowned for the balance it provides on both T and CT-sides, the high skill ceiling for players/teams to master the map, and endless replayability at the casual and professional lev

With many other massively popular streamers such as xQc and Trainwreckstv receiving similar deals, many claim that this kind of unchecked promotion of gambling services from people who are receiving huge sponsorship deals can be harmful to audiences, while also questioning the credibility of the showcased win rates of the gambling sites on stream. This kind of gambling was present on Twitch for several years, being a lingering controversy that was only recently addressed thanks to what is likely Twitch's most high-profile gambling controversy to d

Counter Strike: Global Offensive has often been a source of gambling-related controversy, and so it is no wonder that this inevitably translated over to the Twitch platform. CSGO's case unboxing system provides a small opportunity for players to possibly receive items worth huge amounts of real-world money and was one of the first titles to really spark widespread discourse surrounding this kind of "soft gambling" that was going unchecked within the video slg game patch notes indus

As the newest map to be introduced into the active pool, Anubis has had some controversy upon its inclusion, to say the least. Designed by Roald, jakuza, and jd40, the map was first added to the game on March 31, 2020, to the Scrimmage mode before eventually being moved to Competitive 10 days later. This is notable as it was only the second map to be added to Competitive via this method as before this Cache was the only one to make it. Given this fact, there seemed to be a lot of positive feedback for the map since Cache is a very well-loved

What started as a Counter-Strike 1.6 community map called de_cpl_strike created by Michael "BubkeZ" Hull, would eventually become the de_mirage known today when it was altered in 2004. Valve would later remake the map for the launch of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive . This version has been featured in every CS:GO Major Championships to date and has consistently been in the top 5 most played maps in both casual and professional play since 2

With the long-term chapter of gambling controversies on the Twitch platform seemingly coming to an end, it is clear that the streaming service is shifting dramatically in appeal and ethos. While many will agree that the move might be in Twitch's best interests, the tension and infighting that it is causing among its most popular streamers may be a very detrimental byproduct of its many gambling controversies finally being laid to r

Following intense subsequent pressure from the community on what was already a longstanding controversy, Twitch has banned most forms of gambling from the service , with the aforementioned crypto-gambling giant Stake.com being a named company that is no longer welcome on the streaming platform. This is enormous news for the company considering just how popular gambling streams are on the service, with streamers and fans on both sides of the argument continuing in intense deb

With his Twitch career falling to the wayside as a result, it is estimated that ItsSliker stole close to $200,000 from people within the Twitch community, sparking a huge flurry of debates surrounding the state of Twitch gambling and how it is ruining the platform. In the wake of these revelations, extremely influential streamers such as Pokimane took to Twitter to demand that Twitch ban gambling on the platform, with her tweet receiving over 300,000 li

Platforms: PC , Steam

Newcomers getting into the FPS genre might feel overwhelmed at first at the idea of Rainbow Six: Siege . Due to the tactical nature of Rainbow Six Siege , players need to rely on careful planning, reconnaissance with drones and cameras, and even reinforcing (or breaking through) walls and doors. On top of these mechanics are a wide array of Attackers and Defenders that, with their unique abilities, augment a team's already-expansive tool