CPL ceased operation in 2008, but another league, ESL, then added Counter-Strike to its Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) series.

[1] The years of 2002-07 are considered Counter-Strike's first Golden Age, as the game's popularity and market-share eclipsed all others in the fledgling esports industry.

[citation needed] Valve struggled to iterate and evolve on CS 1.6 because of its high skill ceiling and gameplay.

The advent of video game streaming services such as UStream, Justin.tv and Twitch increased the popularity of competitive Counter-Strike.

On September 16, 2013, Valve announced a US$250,000 community-funded prize pool for its first CS:GO Major Championship; the money was funded through the "Arms Deal" update, which created in-game cosmetics that players could purchase.

In October 2015, a number of professional esports organizations 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 Alexander Kokhanovsky, CEO of Natus Vincere, that was sent to organizers of major esports events.

[6] In its announcement, WESA said it would "further professionalize eSports by introducing elements of player representation, standardized regulations, and revenue sharing for teams".

[7][8] The release of CS 1.6 in 2003 saw a contentious nerf of the iconic AWP sniper rifle by increasing its draw time.

The AWP was again the subject of a controversial nerf in 2015 when players' movement speed and acceleration was decreased while the weapon was equipped.

[12][13][14] Counter-Strike tournaments can be hosted by any entity, and do not have a single official event organizer (like FIFA in football association, for example).

The Major Championships, sponsored by Valve and held by different organizers twice a year, are the most prestigious tournaments, although they may not necessarily have the highest prizes.

[18] Tier 1 tournaments are the highest ranking non-Major events, typically consisting of the best teams in the world with a high prize pool.

As the game and the scene grew in popularity, companies, including WME/IMG and Turner Broadcasting, began to televise Global Offensive professional games, with the first being ELEAGUE Major 2017, held at the Fox Theatre and broadcast on US cable television network TBS in 2016.

[21] In 2023 TV 2 announced it would no longer broadcast Counter-Strike from 2024 onwards citing a lack of commercial sustainability given free alternatives, such as Twitch, and the downturn in results from the Danish superteam Astralis leading to a decline in popularity within Denmark.

[22] Cheating, particularly through the use of software hacks on online servers, has been a problem throughout the history of Counter-Strike and generally results in a game ban if discovered.

[23] Professional players play online on independent platform servers hosted by leagues such as ESEA or Faceit, which have proprietary anti-cheat programs.

In 2018, at the eXTREMESLAND ZOWIE Asia CS:GO, Nikhil "forsaken" Kumawat of OpTic India was caught cheating mid-match using aimbot during a tournament game against Revolution, a Vietnamese Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team.

[29] In 2020, the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) banned over 37 coaches[30] due to abuse of a spectator mode bug.

[34] On 20 January 2021, the ESIC issued sanctions against 35 players for betting-related offences primarily in the Australian CS:GO scene.

[36] ESIC is collaborating with federal law enforcement as part of a larger investigation into players bribed to fix matches by outside "betting syndicates".

Initially, these sites focused on wagering skins on the outcomes of professional and semi-professional CS:GO matches, in the vein of sports betting.