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 game indus

Non-game related gambling remained rampant on the Twitch service despite the aforementioned controversy, with gambling content quickly rising to be one of the most popular topics on Twitch in recent years. With the rise of cryptocurrency coming hand-in-hand with increased attention on gambling on the Twitch platform, the marriage of the two controversial subjects seemed like an inevitability to many view

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

There is at least one reason why Train has appeared in Counter-Strike, Counter-Strike: Source , and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive . It happens to be a delightful map that is relatively balanced for both teams. Sprinting into A site like the game is Call of Duty is just about the worst thing you can do. Plenty of players think Call of Duty and CS: GO are similar. Attackers are advised to stick together, communicate with team members, and choose a bomb site. Both bomb sites on Train can be reached easily, so you may as well have your squad with you when plant

Agency is a newer Counter-Strike: Global Offensive map that was released on November 13, 2017. It seems like they did a good job making the map since only a few changes are needed. The map is pretty balanced, and CS2 Visual Improvements the atmosphere of the level is enjoya

Classic Counter-Strike players will enjoy Dust II since it is what the professional players often play. In respect to level difficulty, you'll notice that winning a Dust II match is exceedingly tricky. The map is quite large, and newbies don't know how to play the map. It seems like the difficulty raises when you play Dust II, which is probably because the most experienced Counter-Strike players like to play this map. Planting at A is way easier than B, but protecting the bomb at A site after being planted is challeng

Originally released in 2012, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has built a massive Esports scene and has thousands of players online at any given time. For better or worse, it defined the childhoods of many modern gamers. Players cannot aim down sights, and the guns have set spray patterns rather than varying degrees of recoil. This creates a noticeable skill gap between newcomers and veterans, but what's worse is the commun

It was always clear that Twitch's long history with gambling among its top streamers was eventually going to reach a climax, and this came recently with news regarding long-time streamer ItsSliker . Sliker began streaming on Twitch in 2019, quickly building up a commendable fan base via his networking with other streamers and unique commentary. Currently sitting at over 430,000 followers and once commanding thousands of concurrent Twitch subscribers, recent allegations surrounding the streamer have had a massive domino effect on the platform as a wh

Currently, there is no way to financially support the self-funded fan-site, but there are plans to potentially open a Patreon in the future. LambdaGeneration seems like the inevitable next step in this saga, a hot-spot for Half-Life devotees to enjoy.

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

As a result, DotA 2 is overwhelming for newcomers. Playing the game is like learning a new language. Nothing really makes sense, and the terms and strategies don't really carry over from any other game (except other MOBAs). Like Counter-Strike , this game has a large pre-established player base that will probably be toxic to newcomers from the get

Alex's point is an important one. I occasionally jump to Reddit to find out what's going on with the community, perhaps to discuss some wild theories about the G-Man after a long day of bunny-hopping through the waterways of Half-Life 2, but the subs are drowned in memes. So, I go to Twitter, where it's near-impossible to find any structured form of discussion. The only spot to find community content in a neat package was LambdaGeneration, but even then it was curated by fans - what was being lost in that process? LambdaGeneration’s new social media platform addresses all of these issues.