Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Developer(s) Hidden Path Entertainment
Valve Corporation
Publisher(s) Valve Corporation
Composer(s) Mike Morasky
Series Counter-Strike
Engine Source
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
OS X
Linux
Xbox 360
PlayStation 3
Release date(s)
  • WW August 21, 2012
Genre(s) First-person shooter
Mode(s) Multiplayer

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) is an online first-person shooter developed by Hidden Path Entertainment and Valve Corporation. It is the fourth game in the main Counter-Strike franchise. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was released for Microsoft Windows, OS X, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 on August 21, 2012.[1] The Linux version was released in September 2014.[2] It features classic content, such as revamped versions of classic maps, as well as brand new maps, characters and game modes. Cross-platform multiplayer was planned between Windows, OS X, Linux, and PlayStation 3 players,[3] but was ultimately limited to Windows, OS X, and Linux because of the differences in update-frequency between systems.[4] The PlayStation 3 version offers three input control methods, which include using either the DualShock 3 controller, PlayStation Move or USB keyboard/mouse.

Gameplay

An in-game screenshot in which a member of the Terrorist team is poised while holding an assault rifle with a custom skin. A caption in the bottom-left reads "FASICO John killed you with their knife".
In-game screenshot of a player on the Terrorist team holding an M4A1-S with the 'Atomic Alloy' skin applied.

Like the previous games in the series, Global Offensive is an objective-based multiplayer first-person shooter. Each player joins either the Terrorist or Counter-Terrorist team and attempts to complete objectives or eliminate the enemy team. The game operates in short rounds that end when all players on one side are dead or a team's objective is completed. For most game modes, once a player dies, they must wait until the round ends to respawn.

Players purchase weapons and equipment at the beginning of every round with money awarded based on their performance. Completing objectives or killing enemies earns the player money while negative actions, like killing a teammate or hostage, takes money away from the player. In addition, when a round ends all players receive some amount of money, with players on the winning team receiving substantially more.[5]

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive adds new weapons and equipment not seen in previous installments, most notably the firebomb for each side (referred to as a Molotov on the terrorist side and as an Incendiary Grenade on the Counter-Terrorist side). These temporarily cover a small area in fire, dealing damage to anyone passing through.[6][7]

Cosmetic items, such as weapon finishes, were added post-release.[8]

Game modes

Currently, Global Offensive features five game modes for online play:

Global Offensive also offers two offline modes: Offline with Bots, which offers the same game modes with AI-controlled bots; and a Weapons Course, a single player map serving as a tutorial and a training mode.[20]

Online play

Global Offensive supports matchmaking and leaderboards for all online game modes, provided by Steam.[21] The provided online service offers the ability to filter by game modes, maps and a built-in Steam friend system. Valve also employs Valve Anti-Cheat, which can automatically remove and ban players from the Valve online network. To match players of similar skill levels for an enjoyable experience, the game uses a heavily modified version of Elo rating system.[3] The PC version of Global Offensive also supports private dedicated servers that the player may connect to through the community server menu in-game. These servers may be heavily modified and can be completely different from the base game.[22] There have been popular community mods created for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, one named KZ Climb (Kreedz Climbing), where players complete obstacle courses that require advanced strafing and jumping techniques.[23]

Development

Global Offensive began as a port of Counter-Strike: Source to Xbox Live Arcade by Hidden Path Entertainment. During the development, Valve saw the opportunity to turn the port into a full game and expand on Counter-Strike's gameplay. Global Offensive began development in March 2010, and was revealed to the public on August 12, 2011.[24][25]

The closed beta started on November 30, 2011, and was initially restricted to around ten thousand people who received a key at events Valve attended to showcase Global Offensive. After issues such as client and server stability were addressed the beta was opened up to progressively more and more people, until the beta became open for anybody to join and play.[26] Before the public beta, Valve invited professional Counter-Strike and Counter-Strike: Source players to play-test the game and give feedback.[9]

At E3 2012, Valve announced that Global Offensive would be released on August 21, 2012, with an open beta starting roughly a month before that.[27][28]

Post-release

Global Offensive receives post-release support in the form of constant updates. New game modes, maps, and weapons were added post-release, and also received balancing changes .[18] Cosmetic items, such as weapon finishes, were added on August 13, 2013, in a major update named the "Arms Deal" update. Most cosmetic items are received via game-end drops and opening virtual crates with keys that can be bought through microtransactions, similar to the item drop systems in Team Fortress 2 and Dota 2. These items can also be traded between players through the Steam trading system or the Steam Community Market.[29]

Valve enabled Steam Workshop support for Global Offensive, allowing users to upload user-created content, such as maps, weapon finishes, and custom gameplay scenarios. In previous versions of Counter-Strike, players had to download maps through third party sites, or while connecting to the server. Popular user-created weapon finishes have the chance to be added in the game as official cosmetic items in updates, where they can be received in virtual crates. A portion of the income generated through the sale of keys in order to receive these finishes is given to the creators of the weapon finishes.[29]

Valve supports community map-makers in the form of "Operations", expansion packs in the form of "operation passes" purchasable through in-game transaction, granting access to select community-made maps on Valve official servers. However, from Operation Breakout onwards, players weren't required to buy a pass to access said maps. Each operation only lasts a certain amount of time before a new operation is released, requiring players to buy a new pass.[30][31] A portion of the income generated through pass sales is given to the creators of the maps.[32]

An update in October 2014 added "music kits", which replace the default in-game music with music from soundtrack artists commissioned by Valve. If a player with a music kit equipped becomes the round's most valuable player, their music will play for others at the end of the round. There is a feature that allows kits to be borrowed, and kits can be sold and exchanged through the Community Market.[33]

Professional competition

Fnatic winning ESL One Cologne in 2015

In Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, in addition to normal tournament circuits hosted by third-party organizations, Valve organizes or co-sponsors a series of events itself, referred to as 'majors'. These events are special in that they have large prize pools, which are crowdfunded by the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive community via in-game keys bought to open in-game cases,[34][35] and special in-game cosmetics - usually in the form of stickers of the qualified teams logo, and signatures of qualified players[36] that can be applied to guns or used to predict the results of the tournament - are introduced into the game, and are purchasable from Valve during the duration of the tournament.[37][38][39]

On September 23, 2015 it was announced that WME/IMG and Turner Broadcasting were creating a televised Counter-Strike: Global Offensive esports league called ELeague to be broadcast on US cable television network TBS in 2016.[40]

On October 2, 2015, a number of professional esports organization with Counter-Strike teams announced the formation of a trade union that set several demands for future tournament attendance. The announcement was a publicly posted email written by Natus Vincere CEO Alexander Kokhanovskyy that was sent to organizers of major esports events. Among these demands was notice that teams part of the union would not attend a tournament with a prize pool of less than $75,000 for CS:GO and $100,000 for Dota 2.[41] Among the teams that were announced were Natus Vincere, Team Liquid, Counter Logic Gaming, Cloud9, Virtus.pro, Team SoloMid, Fnatic, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Titan, and EnVyUs.[42]

Majors

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Majors
Most recent season or competition:
MLG Major Championship: Columbus
Sport Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Founded 2013
No. of teams 16
Continents Global
Most recent champion(s) Luminosity Gaming (MLG Major Championship: Columbus)
Most titles Fnatic (3)
Classification Qualifying tournaments
TV partner(s) Twitch.tv, ESL, MLG.tv

Major tournaments are defined as those tournaments that are sponsored by Valve. Every Major so far has had a prize pool of $250,000, and has seen increased attendance, including over ten thousand viewers live in stadiums and millions watching on internet-based live streams, as well as increased money to the players through the purchase of stickers. Swedish team Fnatic bested the Ninjas in Pyjamas to win the DreamHack Winter 2013 SteelSeries Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Championship in December 2013, the first Major tournament, with an entire tournament prize pool of $250,000.[43] Virtus.pro won over Ninjas in Pyjamas in the EMS One Katowice 2014 championship, the second Major.[35] Ninjas in Pyjamas won the ESL One Cologne 2014 tournament at Gamescom over Fnatic in 2014.[44] Team LDLC.com won Dreamhack Winter 2014 over Ninjas in Pyjamas.[45] On March 15, 2015, Fnatic won their second major at ESL One Katowice 2015, beating Ninjas in Pyjamas once again.[46] Fnatic won their third major on August 23, 2015 at ESL One Cologne 2015 beating Team EnVyUs 2-0 in a best of 3 series.[47] DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca 2015 in November 2015 was won by EnVyUs over Natus Vincere.[48] The prize pool was increased to $1 million in 2016.[49][50] MLG Major Championship: Columbus went on from March 29 to April 3 2016 and was won by Luminosity Gaming over Natus Vincere.[51]

Gambling

Since the release of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and the introduction of the Arms Deal update which added cosmetic items (dubbed as skins[29]) into the game,[8] gambling has became a large part of the community. With the addition of skins, items called Cases were added. These were items which the player would need have a key (which could be bought for $2.49 in the in-game store) in order to open and would contain common items up to rarer, more expensive items, with the rarest being items called knives.[8] As the more common items were worth less, the user would normally end up losing money by opening the cases.[52]

When websites started giving users the opportunity to bet on competitive matches, the viewer-base of the games increased.[53] Watching the matches in-game rewarded players with a chance to receive "Souvenir" cases and skins, which are worth more than the normal version of the skin.[8] Items can be worth thousands of dollars.[54][55] Jackpot-like sites were also introduced. Users can put their skins into the pot, which will end in one person winning. The higher total value, the more chance the user would have to win.[56] When roulette-like websites were created, browser extensions claiming to automatically bet for the user were actually malware designed to steal skins and coins.[57] The site which the malware was targeted at was called "CSGODouble".[58]

Because of the ease of accessibility of these websites, children were betting whilst underage. Justin Carlson, the creator of a skin selling website called SkinXchange, said underage gambling is a huge issue, and there were "countless times" where he's had to call parents to tell them their child had used their credit card to buy items. Some of which spent hundreds or thousands of dollars, just to end up losing them on a betting or jackpot site.[59]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic83/100 (PC)[60]
79/100 (X360)[61]
80/100 (PS3)[62]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Destructoid9.5/10 (PC)[63]
Eurogamer9/10 (PC)[64]
G44/5 (PC)[65]
GameSpot8.5 (PC, PS3, X360)[66]
GameSpy (PC)[67]
IGN8/10 (PC)[68]
OXM (UK)8/10 (XBLA)[69]
PC Gamer (US)84/100 (PC)[70]

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive received generally positive reviews from critics. Aggregate review website Metacritic assigned the PC version an overall score of 83 out of 100 based on 38 reviews from professional critics.[60]

Evan Lahti from PC Gamer noted that the majority of new official maps in Global Offensive were only for Arms Race or Demolition game modes; while Classic maps were only given "smart adjustments" to minor details.[70] GameSpy's Mike Sharkey pointed out that the game provides very little in the way of new content; and that the Elo rating system seems ineffective, what "with so many new players of various skill levels logging on for the first time this week".[67] Destructoid gave the game a very positive review, awarding it 9.5/10, saying that it "delivers on the promise of a faithful, polished, and better looking Counter-Strike for anyone who wants it."[63] GameSpot said in their positive review that this game "is a solid update to a classic shooter".[66]

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive won the eSports Game of the Year Award at The Game Awards in December 2015.[71]

References

  1. ↑ Wesley Yin-Poole (June 4, 2012). "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive release date announced". Eurogamer. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
  2. ↑ Hulsebosch, Paul (September 23, 2014). "Bètaversie Counter-Strike: Global Offensive verkrijgbaar voor Linux" [Beta version Counter-Strike: Global Offensive available for Linux] (in Dutch). Tweakers.net. Retrieved September 23, 2014.
  3. 1 2 Stephen Totilo (August 25, 2011). "An Hour with Counter-Strike: GO". Kotaku. Retrieved August 26, 2011.
  4. ↑ Hinkle, David (March 5, 2012). "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive loses cross-play". Joystiq. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Update Released". Steam. Valve Corporation. November 16, 2012. Retrieved December 26, 2012.
  6. ↑ Valve Corporation, Hidden Path Entertainment (August 21, 2012). Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Steam. Valve Corporation.
  7. ↑ Craig "Torbull" Levine (October 11, 2011). "Hands on With Counter-Strike: Global Offensive". ESEA. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Lahti, Evan (September 17, 2015). "How $400 virtual knives saved Counter-Strike". PC Gamer. Future plc. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  9. 1 2 Alec Meer (August 15, 2011). "Counter-Strike: GO Explained Properly". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
  10. ↑ Valve Corporation, Hidden Path Entertainment. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Steam. Valve Corporation. Scene: Bomb Scenario Mission.
  11. ↑ Valve (March 21, 2013). "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Update Released". Retrieved August 18, 2013.
  12. ↑ Valve Corporation, Hidden Path Entertainment. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Steam. Valve Corporation. Scene: Hostage Mission. Level/area: Italy / Office.
  13. ↑ Čeština (March 2, 2013). "3/21 Update: Militia, Menus, and Hostages". Counterstrike: Global Offensive. Valve Corporation. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
  14. ↑ Valve Corporation, Hidden Path Entertainment. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Steam. Valve Corporation. Scene: Arms Race. Level/area: Baggage / Monastery / Shoots.
  15. ↑ Anthony Gallegos (September 22, 2011). "New Mode for New Counter-Strike Announced". IGN. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
  16. ↑ Valve Corporation, Hidden Path Entertainment. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Steam. Valve Corporation. Scene: Demolition.
  17. ↑ Onyett, Charles (March 12, 2012). "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive's Demolition Mode". IGN. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  18. 1 2 3 "News - Product Updates". Steam. Valve Corporation. December 21, 2012. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  19. ↑ Valve Corporation, Hidden Path Entertainment. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Steam. Valve Corporation. Scene: Deathmatch.
  20. ↑ Valve Corporation, Hidden Path Entertainment. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Steam. Valve Corporation. Level/area: Weapons Course (G.O. Testing Facility).
  21. ↑ Makuch, Eddie. "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive firing up early 2012". GameSpot. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
  22. ↑ Valve Developer Community (July 26, 2014) https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Counter-Strike:_Global_Offensive_Dedicated_Servers
  23. ↑ Salomonsson, Fredrik (January 19, 2016). "Discover Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s climbing scene". PC Gamer. Future plc. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  24. ↑ Schypher (October 12, 2011). "CS:GO - What we know so far". HLTV.org. Retrieved November 8, 2011.
  25. ↑ Alec Meer (August 12, 2011). "Revealed: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved November 8, 2011.
  26. ↑ Haas, Pete (October 31, 2011). "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Beta Delayed". Cinema Blend. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
  27. ↑ "June 11th Update". Valve Corporation. June 12, 2012. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  28. ↑ "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Trailer". YouTube. Valve Corporation. August 17, 2012. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
  29. 1 2 3 "The Arms Deal Update". Valve Corporation. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  30. ↑ "Operation Breakout". Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Valve Corporation. July 1, 2014. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
  31. ↑ "Operation Vanguard". Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Valve Corporation. November 11, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  32. ↑ "Operation: Payback, First Hand". MapCore. September 28, 2013. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
  33. ↑ "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive » Introducing Music Kits!". counter-strike.net.
  34. ↑ "Counter-Strike Community Helps Build $250,000 Prize Pool".
  35. 1 2 "EMS One 2014: Winners". Counter-Strike blog. March 17, 2014.
  36. ↑ "CS:GO Update: Cologne stickers added". GosuGamers. August 15, 2015.
  37. ↑ "Valve to support ESL One Cologne". HLTV.org. June 3, 2015. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
  38. ↑ "New update adds DHW stickers". HLTV.org. November 21, 2014. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
  39. ↑ "Katowice stickers in new update". HLTV.org. February 27, 2015. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
  40. ↑ Spangler, Todd (September 23, 2015). "Turner, WME/IMG Form E-Sports League, With TBS to Air Live Events". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
  41. ↑ Lewis, Richard (October 3, 2015). "E-Sports Team Union Formalises And Reveals Demands For 2016". E-Frag. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  42. ↑ Rosen, Daniel (October 4, 2015). "Report: eSports team union forms, outlines requirements for CS:GO, Dota 2 tournaments". Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  43. ↑ "DreamHack 2013 Champions". Counter-Strike blog. December 1, 2013.
  44. ↑ "ESL One Cologne 2014 – Winners". Counter-Strike blog. August 18, 2014.
  45. ↑ "DreamHack 2014: Winners". Valve Corporation. November 30, 2014. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  46. ↑ Lingle, Samuel (March 15, 2015). "Counter-Strike cracks 1 million concurrent viewers at ESL One". The Daily Dot. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
  47. ↑ Juillet, Jacob (March 15, 2015). "Fnatic win ESL One Grand Finals; defeat NiP 2-1". Thescore esports. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  48. ↑ http://www.esport.aftonbladet.se/csgo/maikelele-vi-kommer-inte-plocka-bort-fox/
  49. ↑ "Major prize upped to $1,000,000". February 24, 2016. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
  50. ↑ http://www.dailydot.com/esports/valve-counter-strike-majors-prize-pool/
  51. ↑ Švejda, Milan. "Luminosity win MLG Columbus 2016". HLTV. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  52. ↑ Leack, Jonathan (January 19, 2016). "This CS: GO Infographic Shows Why You Shouldn't Open Cases". Game Revolution. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  53. ↑ Leack, Jonathan (January 12, 2016). "How Microtransactions Propelled Counter-Strike: Global Offensive To Stardom". Game Revolution. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  54. ↑ Lahti, Evan (September 17, 2015). "How $400 virtual knives saved Counter-Strike (Page 2)". PC Gamer. Future plc. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  55. ↑ Coutu, Simon (June 30, 2015). "Here's How You Make $12,000 In Profit a Day Selling Virtual Guns". Vice. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  56. ↑ Maciej, Martin (June 3, 2015). "CS:GO-Jackpot – was ist das und wie funktioniert es?". GIGA Games (in German). Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  57. ↑ Hillier, Brenna (January 20, 2016). "Warning – Counter-strike: Global Offensive Chrome extensions may be hiding nasties". VG24/7. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  58. ↑ Calpito, Dave (January 21, 2016). "Chrome Add-Ons That Claim To Help Your Game Will Actually Steal All Your Steam Assets". Tech Times. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  59. ↑ Melbourne, Kamali; Campbell, Matthew (September 7, 2015). "Professional Video Gaming May Have an Underage Gambling Problem". Bloomberg Business. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  60. 1 2 "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive - PC". Metacritic. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
  61. ↑ "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive - Xbox 360". Metacritic. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
  62. ↑ "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive - PS3". Metacritic. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
  63. 1 2 Pinsof, Allistair (August 24, 2012). "Review: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive". Destructoid. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
  64. ↑ Bramwell, Tom (August 22, 2012). "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Review". Eurogamer. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
  65. ↑ Kelly, Kevin (August 24, 2012). "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Review". G4. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
  66. 1 2 "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Review". GameSpot. August 31, 2012. Retrieved May 19, 2015.
  67. 1 2 Sharkey, Mike (August 23, 2012). "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Review". GameSpy. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
  68. ↑ Dyer, Mitch (August 27, 2012). "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Review". IGN. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  69. ↑ "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Review". Official Xbox Magazine UK. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
  70. 1 2 Lahti, Evan (August 24, 2012). "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive review". PC Gamer. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
  71. ↑ "Nominees | The Game Awards 2015". The Game Awards. Ola Balola. November 12, 2015. Retrieved November 13, 2015.

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, April 26, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.