The market for first-person shooter video games to rise to the top of the eSports is nearly as ferocious as the gameplay itself. Over the last decade, the alternating fortunes of some of the top games in this genre have resulted in an eruption in investment, design innovation, and success, especially for Counter-Strike, which is now one of the world’s most popular professional video gaming markets.
Underlying Market Popularity
Often, the success of any video gaming market is helped by the interest shown at the grassroots level. This interest then manifests into the growth of other subsidiary markets and helps the whole scope of the game reach new heights. Ultimately, this has happened with each of the top five video games in eSports, whether ranked on the prize pool, audience size, or overall global participation.
Counter-Strike is considered the second biggest console and PC game featured in eSports. It is second only behind the absolute colossus of League Of Legends, which continues to solidify its position as the world’s leading eSports game. It’s the emergence of other avenues that have allowed the likes of Counter-Strike to flourish, such as gambling markets, which focus on eSports.
Growing Online Gambling Markets
The eSports market has been able to ride the crest of the wave online gambling has brought to the world over the last two decades. As markets continue opening up all over the digital world and attracting more gamers than ever, the interconnectivity of the internet and those looking to seek out these gambling markets are also driving this market’s success.
This is the case throughout the iGaming industry, with online casinos initially leading the way and highlighting the success of online casino platforms before smaller, niche markets followed suit. Today, gambling online at a casino platform is the number one way people play their casino games, and this shows a shift that people have experienced from traditional, in-person games to digital alternatives.
The popularity of video games attests to that – it’s a digital world, becoming increasingly driven by mobile phones and the technology that facilitates online gaming, so the natural fusion of casinos, gambling, and, subsequently, eSports markets like Counter-Strike was ultimately inevitable. The same technologies that make online casino gaming more popular (mobile devices and great connectivity) also help with CS and further games in the eSports world.
The Power Of Streaming
Any gambling market is only as popular as the number of eyes it has on it. This is the case throughout the sporting world. The World Cup is the most gambled-on soccer game. The Super Bowl is the football fixture that sees the most betting activity, and eSports that have been able to get a bigger following than the rest of their competition have also seen a spike in interest in their gambling markets.
Valve, the game’s designers, and its highly successful sequel Counter-Strike 2 (CS2)—released last year—have utilized Counter-Strike’s immense popularity to bolster the broader eSports market. Their game designs are almost tailored toward professional eSports. Given their hands-on role in many top Counter-Strike tournaments, they’ve developed key sponsorships with some of the world’s most prominent gaming influencers who use Twitch to maximize their audience potential.
With millions of people tuning in to watch these games unfold online, it’s not surprising that the underlying gambling markets benefit from the power of streaming. Professional competition of all varieties is open to gambling markets, and something that generates six-figure audience numbers has enough interest for gambling operators to take notice.
How Far Could The Overlap Go – Final Thoughts
I’d say it’s not a stretch to envisage some Counter-Strike eSports tournaments actively include gambling odds and markets over the next few years. While Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Seige and Call Of Duty lag behind Valve’s enormously successful Counter-Strike series, I wouldn’t say they’re going to be too concerned about what’s chasing them at the moment; they’re more interested in the new markets that are presenting themselves – whether it’s in the form of VR Counter-Strike options, or growing gambling markets.
When I was playing games back in 2010, it felt like Call Of Duty would be the game that would take this mantle. In truth, they’ve dropped the ball on this one. That’s not to take anything away from Valve in the slightest. Their persistence has paid off handsomely, as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Counter-Strike 2 are dominant games in this genre. Valorant is one they need to keep an eye on, but they’ve still got a much higher market share at the moment, and there’s a growing share of the proverbial pie to go around as the market continues expanding.
Professional video gaming is a brand new market, so by default, the gambling markets underpin it are as well—no blueprint exists that could track or predict how high both markets could go between now and 2030.
Still, suppose the numbers of people watching and playing the game are anything to go by. In that case, there’s scope for gambling markets to become more relevant in Counter-Strike games and become the leading subsidiary market that fuels online demand.
