The new normal: How the coronavirus pandemic is affecting Counter-Strike

Much of the world has ground to a halt because of the coronavirus pandemic, and although Counter-Strike hasn't been left unscathed, it has proved resilient in a time of social distancing.

Photographs of packed stadiums had long become vindication of esports’ craving for mainstream recognition, which made the empty Spodek Arena at this year’s IEM Katowice—the first big tournament in Europe affected by the coronavirus outbreak—a vivid representation of the hardships that were to follow. But Counter-Strike's ability to go back to its online roots while much of the world is at a standstill has allowed the game to keep the gears grinding as players, teams, organizations, and tournament organizers figure out how to survive during the pandemic.

The current worldwide lockdown has no doubt had an impact on CS:GO's competitive landscape, forcing leagues and tournaments to be canceled, postponed, or shifted to an online setting, but despite the setback of moving back online an industry that had long been working its way into the physical world, esports’ virtuality and ability to remain one of the few live competitive entertainment options available has not only kept it afloat but also garnered much attention from new audiences. Major celebrities and athletes around the world are moving online following the cancellation of sporting events, making gaming and esports' resilience during the pandemic a hot topic across all media platforms. A notable example is Formula 1, whose drivers get together every weekend to run the calendar races online as more and more Grand Prix events are canceled, while athletes ranging anywhere from Spain’s La Liga to the NHL continue to compete in their sports' simulators during the shutdown. But how are Counter-Strike and the people involved in its daily operations faring? As in most crises, it depends who you ask.

Social distancing and “stay at home” measures imposed by most countries around the world during the ongoing pandemic have no doubt been one of the main factors pushing online games to break new records in terms of viewership and player count. Earlier this month, Counter-Strike hit over 1.3 million concurrent players, its highest-ever peak, while season 11 of the ESL Pro League was the most successful in the history of the competition, with a 113% increase in hours watched and 216% in average minute audience when compared to last year's record.

At the dawn of the crisis we talked to Michal "Carmac" Blicharz, VP of Pro Gaming at ESL, who used the following analogy to explain the situation from the inside when all of the changes to the league were being made: "Imagine you’re a cook and you work in a Chinese restaurant, but one day you show up for work and you’re told you’re cooking Italian dishes. It’s a totally new situation that needs adjusting to nearly on the spot. And maybe some of the standard ingredients haven’t turned up yet. The difficulty is in adjusting to it quickly and getting to your maximal level in a different set of circumstances. Luckily, Brian Kraemer, our Product Manager, and the team have adjusted really quickly and the show has improved on a daily basis. The team behind the show isn’t small, considering all commentators and the core team that is essential in running a production like this."

The ESL Pro Tour had been announced as a global circuit with over $5 million in aggregate prize money for 2020, but plans have been thwarted by the global pandemic. Despite lamenting how the tour has been affected, with tournaments split into regional divisions and live events postponed or canceled altogether, Carmac is quick to find the positives that can be taken from the current situation.

"Winston Churchill said 'never waste a good crisis', and it seems like esports is positioned to benefit from it," he says. "Traditional sports are looking to their e-versions to generate content for their fan bases, and for CS:GO it’s an opportunity to bring in new fans and keep them. But it’s important not to devalue the entertainment value of CS:GO. I don’t think it’s good for anyone to see the best team in the world playing so often that people get tired, bored and worn out. That will result in a quick burnout and a deterioration of viewership. I hope that players understand that when they make choices on what they want to compete in."

After a successful ESL Pro League with record viewership, the German company is currently running ESL One: Road to Rio, while DreamHack is readying up for its multi-regional $300,000 online Masters tournament, giving top-flight teams plenty of opportunities to stay active and to keep competing. But they’re not the only ones making moves and adjusting to the new situation we’re in; some of the smaller teams and organizations have also been able to find airtime as tournament organizers like GRID and Relog Media, who run the Home Sweet Home cups, have staked their claim of lockdown-fueled broadcast numbers, giving teams a little bit down the ladder their chance to compete and stay relevant as well. Even BLAST seems interested in catering to a new set of teams that they largely ignored in the past with its €30,000 Rising tournament, designed for teams ranked 25th or lower in the world.

The shutdown of sporting events has become an ally for esports, but while record-breaking numbers have been posted, the inability to run live competitions has hit many of the industry’s workers, especially freelancers and contractors whose bread and butter used to come from LAN tournaments. "If an event is cancelled, postponed or played online, that’s my work gone," says Matthew Truelove, a freelance videographer and editor who has worked for ESL, BLAST, Astralis and FaZe. "What was once a guaranteed source of income has vanished. So as of right now, I have no filming work until this pandemic is dealt with and events can run as normal again. The 2020 CS:GO calendar was jam-packed, many videographers such as myself were expecting to have to make tough choices between events and clients because of how busy it was. Everyone in the scene was in agreement that it was going to be a great year work-wise, but now it’s completely flipped on its head."

Freelancers are regulars in the circuit and make the rounds as often as any staffer working for teams or tournament organizers, but they don’t have a safety net to fall back on in the face of unforeseen circumstances such as the current pandemic and are now having to rely on savings and governmental stimulus packages as work opportunities have dried up. "Small post-production roles could move their work online with no hiccups, but in times of economic instability, it is usually marketing budgets that are first pulled, which will have a huge effect on any planned film work," says Tom "D1ablo" Newman, who was part of the team creating the Flashpoint 1 hype video. "The silver lining in all of this is that there is still Counter-Strike to watch almost every day. That's the beauty of esports."

Online play – which is keeping the industry afloat – is taken for granted in this day and age, in which everyone with a PC and an internet connection can play from home, but things aren't always that simple. BIG player Nils "⁠k1to⁠" Gruhne had to move to Berlin before things got critical because his internet at home isn't adequate to compete at the highest level. "I can assure you that we probably have the worst internet in Europe here," Christian Lenz, the team's manager, says. "If we saved the money [we pay for it every month], we could afford a solid small car." Similar issues have also become apparent during broadcasts, with technical pauses and delays have been more common than normal as the network is saturated with people stuck at home finding much of their entertainment online, although time has smoothed many of the initial wrinkles.

Other teams haven’t been as lucky as BIG, who just had to move players around before going into lockdown but otherwise have managed to go on about their business as usual, at least for the most part. BOOM, Renegades and Sharks all missed out on playing ESL Pro League after deciding to go back home as flight restrictions were tightening around the globe. "I think something very serious is happening in the world and the best thing for every player now is to be with their families," Sharks star Luca "⁠Luken⁠" Nadotti says.

One of the most visible cases of a player directly affected by the pandemic is Owen "⁠smooya⁠" Butterfield, who was part of Chaos's starting lineup at the beginning of Flashpoint 1 but had to return to the UK after the team's first match as his ESTA was about to expire. With his P1 visa already approved, he could have picked it up and returned to North America under normal circumstances, but a closed embassy meant he had to stay home as the UK started to shut down, with no chance of reuniting with his team in Los Angeles. The British player eventually got benched and then released despite hoping to renegotiate his contract and return to the team in the future.

As the scramble to adjust to life under lockdown begins to subside and some countries even start to reopen – albeit with no indication of when large-scale events could return –, the conversation has shifted from the personal and immediate to the collective long-term effects of the pandemic. We could be in this situation for the foreseeable future, at least regarding international travel and social gatherings, although it’s still too early to know some of the ramifications of this global health emergency.

Crises are catalysts for change, be it because systemic inadequacies are revealed or because adaptation to a new reality is necessary, and depending on how the changes made now sit, they could well pave the way for how the game is played in the future, whatever the situation we'll find ourselves in. Online CS is notorious for introducing variables ranging from ping to the psychological aspect of playing from home – which could benefit some and hinder others –, making the game more unpredictable. It isn’t a wild thought that players and organizations that are constantly trying to gain a competitive advantage over each other with ever-growing resources and technical staff will use this time to work on improving this part of their game.

Teams that are able to streamline their online performances will start reaping the rewards, especially if it becomes harder to attend as many LAN tournaments as before and online CS makes a long-term comeback. Teams that adjust to the online reality faster will earn more money, qualify for better tournaments – including the ESL One Rio Major – and perhaps even pick up new fans that may be falling in love with the game during the lockdown. In the extreme case that online CS does become the norm for months or years with only a few tournaments played in closed studio environments in between, other questions can be raised. An example that immediately comes to mind is that teams may well decide that restructuring their roster to take advantage of online tournaments' relaxed coaching rules could prove more profitable than waiting to see when widespread LAN action resumes.

Many unpleasant situations are being tackled: LAN events moving online or getting canceled, players like smooya or teams like Sharks, BOOM and Renegades missing out on opportunities, or worrying prospects for workers who make a living at offline events. But a period of fluctuation like the one we’re experiencing isn’t necessarily limited to damage control, as we've seen with the increased viewership despite limitations and the amount of work teams are putting into online CS. There is now a chance to redraw the way Counter-Strike and the business surrounding it works to match the needs of our times, whether it be continuing to generate value for sponsors in creative ways, pushing the level of competition, even if online, or making the best possible end product for the viewer with the tools at hand to create live entertainment during a time in which it is scarce and much needed.