Opinion

A healthier Counter-Strike scene for all

Author: Pablo Monti

After an incredible 2018 for Astralis in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, I interviewed Kasper Hvidt, Sports Director of the oft-dominant Danish team. Hearing him describe how he brought elements from traditional sports to esports was mind-blowing.

Hvidt played for his National Handball Team in more than 200 matches and also played for top handball clubs around Europe, such as Barcelona from Spain, Lemgo from Germany, and Copenhagen from Denmark, amongst others. He told me that esports needed to copy traditional sports in terms of improving players’ performance by adding healthy activities - and removing the unhealthy ones.

He introduced limited times of training and playing on the computer, and complemented that with physical training and yoga classes. He also brought in a team composed of a physiotherapist, nutritionist, sports psychologist, and others. But what impacted me the most was what he thought about players’ performance and the importance of eating well… and even more importantly, resting well.

Indeed, rest is something of a rarity for top CS:GO professionals. The CounterStrike Professional Players’ Association (CSPPA) spoke out loudly against the huge amount of tournaments, and how players spent the whole year travelling without much rest. Last year, the CSPPA released a statement in which they wrote: “There is a need to create stability and sustainability in the CS:GO ecosystem to the benefit of all stakeholders. We require an agreement that strikes a fair balance with respect to exclusivity, scheduling of tournaments, financial sharing amongst the stakeholders, event standards and contract standards, and other fundamental terms.”

Both ESL and BLAST understood that stance and modified their formats and schedules accordingly to help better organise the CS:GO landscape. ESL joined efforts with sister company DreamHack (through shared parent company MTG) and presented the combined ESL Pro Tour. Meanwhile, BLAST moved to a circuit format with BLAST Premier.

The same weekend that news was announced, pro players shared their thoughts with me. Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski, who has played as rifler of Team Liquid since 2015 and won many tournaments in 2019, said: “There are no storylines that come from going to events back to back to back to back to back... so the storylines become, ‘Oh, they won two in a row’ or ‘They won three in a row.’ There are no rivalries, and I don’t like it.”

One step further, Astralis player Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz stated: “It has been quite unhealthy to be a pro CounterStrike player, in my opinion. There’s no one that can travel that much, perform at a top level, and be healthy both mentally and physically. You just don’t have the energy for that if you go to all tournaments.”

Changes had to be made, and they were. For 2020, the CS:GO landscape shows the ESL Pro Tour, BLAST Premier, plus a new player in the conversation: FLASHPOINT. Besides the health discussion, a new topic of conversation entered the scene since FLASHPOINT has a different model in which teams own and run the competition.

Once, Astralis’ Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth - also a CSPPA member - told me, “All tournaments compete for the same dates, they all compete for the same players, and they all want more and more.” However, Flashpoint sees a higher revenue share for players than other tournaments.

So the main topic in professional CS:GO has evolved into which model of tournament will prevail or which will be most sustainable. The ESL Pro Tour is different from BLAST Premier, and both are different from FLASHPOINT. While the sale of broadcasting rights changes constantly around esports, teams and players seem to be searching for the right model.

ESL Pro Tour is the historically familiar model, in which almost any team can participate through qualifiers and their ranking. ESL Co-CEO and Co-founder Ralf Reichert noted at Esports BAR Cannes in February 2020: “We wanted to do this in a way that everyone can become a star.”

BLAST Premier has 12 partnered teams and was well described by Nicolas Maurer, CEO of Team Vitality: “We believe the BLAST approach of producing best-in-class entertainment will continue to attract large new audiences as a global series in cool locations, with an innovative format and unique experiences”. Finally, FLASHPOINT brings the team-owned approach, with teams paying a franchise fee to chase a larger revenue share. “Everyone benefits, and I think that is going to be the way of the future,” said Gen.G Co-founder Kent Wakeford. The CS:GO landscape is changing. We have transitioned from numerous disorganised tournaments to three major competitions that themselves compete for the best teams, players, the brands, and the broadcasting rights deals, as well as the goal of being the best and most sustainable and loved format. Time will tell on that front, but in the meantime, players should be at least a little bit more healthy both mentally and physically. And that can only be a good thing for CS:GO in general.