Gambling services such as Stake.com have risen dramatically in popularity and spending power in recent years, allowing players to gamble with the cryptocurrency of their choice. This popularity allowed crypto gambling services to offer extremely lucrative sponsorship deals for big-time streamers to gamble on their websites. For example, popular streamer Adin Ross was reportedly being paid upwards of $900,000 a week to play on Stake.com, meaning a glaring and massive vested interest was pres

While the future for the SLG Game Maps is bright, Counter-Strike is a franchise that loves to pay homage and respect to its roots. As such it is one of the few, if not the only game that has remained mechanically identical since its inception. This familiarity extends to the maps that for some have surpassed 20 years of active competitive play. So, the best way to pay respect to these maps is to rank the best Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has to of

As one of the few maps created by Valve, Ancient was released on December 3, 2020, as part of Operation Broken Fang. It wouldn't be until May 3, 2021, when the map was moved to the active map pool replacing Train. While Train was a well-liked and balanced map to the CS:GO community, there was some sentiment that it did start to feel a bit stale despite being one of the first maps to be reworked. This was apparent in the decline in pick rate at the professional level, but especially in casual play which is likely the cause for the remo

Weapons sway more when aimed down sights, making even simple shots hard to pull off, and the map is filled with sound traps that reveal positions to other teams in a heartbeat. The overall flow and strategy of Hunt make it one of the hardest yet most satisfying games for newcomers to le

Platforms: PC

Nothing beats the classics, especially for newcomers to the FPS genre. Fans could argue that Counter-Strike popularized FPS gaming to the mainstream, with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive being an improved version of the original Counter-Strike. In Counter-Strike: Global Offensive , players have to either deploy and protect a bomb (Terrorists) or defuse it (Counterterroris

The reason for this could be the high skill requirement or the popularity of its competitors, but regardless, CS:GO Danger Zone is a great option for those who are looking for something new in the battle royale universe that is unique and fun to learn and play. The game mode features the great gunplay that is a staple of Counter-Strike , along with a map pool full of unique and exciting environments, not to mention that it's also free. Therefore, if players are looking to try Danger Zone , then they should check out this guide for beginner tips for the game m

Websites quickly began exploiting the craze surrounding Counter Strike 's in-game items, with sites like CSGO Lotto allowing players to trade their items for eligibility into raffles for extremely valuable prizes. Many streamers began promoting these kinds of websites, often without disclosing their financial stakes in the services they were promoting. For example, popular streamer Phantoml0rd was famously permanently banned from Twitch for just this reason, despite later winning a civil suit against the platform. Twitch would quickly go on to ban these kinds of raffle or gambling websites related to CSGO , marking one of the first major gambling controversies for the serv

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

In this regard, gambling on Twitch has long been a source of disagreement, with some of the largest streamers on the platform leaning heavily into controversial sponsored gambling streams. This long-standing issue recently reached a boiling point, leading to most forms of gambling content being banned from the site, but the previous gambling-related incidents that led to this point should not be igno

Created by renowned map creator Chris "Narby" Auty for Counter-Strike version 1.1, Inferno would go on to be included in every Counter-Strike game and remain a mainstay of the competitive scene. Since the map has such a legacy it made sense that it would be an ideal candidate for a revision and would get just that on October 13, 2

When it comes to games that have a history of consistency and familiarity, very few can match what Counter-Strike: Global Offensive brings to the table. When it was released back in 2012, CS:GO was the game to be brought the player bases of Counter-Strike 1.6 and Counter-Strike: Source together. While it mostly succeeded in this endeavor, it wasn't without gowning pains. Thankfully much of that is in the past, so nowadays most players look forward to the future of the g