Counter-Strike: Global Offensive might have recently entered its second decade, but this legendary first-person shooter shows no signs of slowing down. It remains a jewel in the crown of professional esports, with an upswing in first-time players joining in the action. In June 2023, more than 1.6 million players were playing CSGO concurrently on Steam alone. It's been an exciting year for CSGO fans. Along with a gripping tournament schedule, fans have been hotly anticipating the arrival of the long-awaited Counter-Strike 2. Read on for a full round-up of what's been happening in the world of CSGO in 2023.
CSGO Tournament Results
We're only halfway through 2023 but it's already proved to be an action-packed year for the first-person shooter. In January, G2 Esports stole the show and emerged victorious at IEM Katowice. In February, FaZe Clan secured a first-place finish during Season 17 of the ESL Pro League.
In April, Team Vitality took home the glory at the IEM in Brazil, before securing a second win at the BLAST Paris Major in May.
More recently, it's been the Scandinavians who've dominated professional play. In June, Finnish team ENCE was crowned the winner at the IEM Dallas. Later that month, the Norwegian roster Heroic trounced the competition at the BLAST Spring Finals in Washington.
Standout Players of 2023
For Team Vitality, 2023 is shaping up rather nicely indeed. Although the entire roster deserves credit, it's Mathieu ‘ZywOo' Herbaut who's been the standout of the season. This AWPer has been playing since 2016, but the last 12 months have launched him from star-in-the-making territory into the stratosphere.
ZywOo is even giving more established names a run for the money. While many people would argue that Natus Vincere's Oleksandr ‘s1mple' Kostyliev is the best CSGO player on the planet, the last year hasn't been s1mple's best. Nonetheless, he's still one of the finest AWPers around and the likes of ZwyOo will need to work hard to usurp this legend.
Other plays worth keeping an eye on include Nicolai ‘dev1ce' Reedtz. This Danish player was once a staple of the Astralis roster before making the jump to Ninjas in Pyjamas in 2021. Now, dev1ce is back where he belongs. While his run with NiP was nothing to write home about, his return to Astralis has resulted in some of the best performances of his career.
What's Happening with Counter-Strike 2?
For most CSGO players, it's been the long-heralded arrival of Counter Strike 2 that's been the hottest topic during the past year. To be fair, Valve hasn't really changed the goalposts as far as a release date is concerned. Currently, this sought-after sequel has a tentative summer 2023 launch window. While major updates have been few and far between, most players anticipate something concrete by August. Why? Well, there's talk that Valve might launch CSGO's follow-up in August 2023, exactly 11 years after the original game was made available to the masses.
Eager to see if Team Vitality maintains their winning streak? Keen to follow ZwyOo's meteoric rise to the top of the pile? You can find all the information you need at www.1337pro.com/en/csgo.
