CS2 Esports News

The Counter-Strike 2 skin market will never be the same again. On October 22, 2025, Valve released an update that promised to revolutionize the Trade Up Contract system, allowing players to exchange five skins for high-tier knives and gloves. What was meant to democratize access to rare items turned into one of the biggest economic disasters in gaming history, wiping out over $2 billion in market value in less than 24 hours.​ Valve’s Flawed Plan That Backfired The initial ideamore

100 Thieves are set to make a long-awaited return to Counter-Strike, this time building their comeback around one of the game’s longest-serving icons. According to reports from Dust2.dk and prominent Russian leaker Aleksei “OverDrive” Birukov, Håvard “rain” Nygaard has already signed with the American organization, marking the first major step in their re-entry into CS2. Nadeshot’s Organization Makes Its Move The Los Angeles-based organization, founded by former Call of Duty professional Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag, has been out of the Counter-Strike circuit since 2020, when they exited citing “uncertainty” around the competitive ecosystem. Their previous lineup, headlined by Justin “jks” Savagemore

The 2025 Intel Extreme Masters Chengdu is set to light up the Counter-Strike 2 scene as sixteen of the world's best teams descend upon China on November 3-9 for another chapter in the prestigious IEM series. With $300,000 on the line and crucial ESL Grand Slam points up for grabs, this tournament promises to deliver the high-octane action that has made Intel Extreme Masters the longest-running global pro gaming tour since 2006.​ Tournament Format and Structure The competition will unfoldmore

G2 continue their expansion beyond the world of esports. After entering the world of traditional sports earlier this year by creating G2 FC to participate in the Kings League, the organization has now announced the launch of Red Aura, an original fantasy-action webcomic that translates the spirit and story of G2 into a new creative universe. Developed in collaboration with Japanese Art Director Runbel and KISAI Entertainment, the studio behind webcomic adaptations of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Beginningmore

The International Olympic Committee and Saudi Arabia have terminated their 12-year partnership to host the Olympic Esports Games in Riyadh, announced today, October 30, 2025. The cancellation, which comes a mere 14 months after the partnership was announced during the 2024 Paris Olympics, exposes the architectural incompatibility between two institutions operating from irreconcilable philosophical foundations.​ On the surface, the decision appears straightforward: the IOC and the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee (SOPC), along with the Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF),more

The Counter-Strike community was rocked by serious allegations on October 26, 2025, when prominent skin trader MitaoCatCS publicly accused former professional player and Major champion Jake "Stewie2k" Yip of scamming them out of approximately $25,000 worth of skins. The accusation, posted on social media, has ignited fierce debate within the CS2 scene and cast a shadow over one of North America's most decorated players. Disclaimer: Gambling can be addictive and cause financial loss. Always gamble responsibly, staying within your limits.more

On October 22nd, Valve released one of the most disruptive updates to Counter-Strike 2. The update introduced an unexpected Red-to-Gold trade-up functionality that heavily affected the CS skins market. In the aftermath, the market lost $3 billion in valuation — 50% of its recent high — in less than 48 hours. Previously highly sought-after rare knives and gloves dropped up to 80% in value. On the surface, the update should mean cheaper knives and gloves for the majority of themore

The Counter-Strike 2 circuit is a living, breathing collection of tournaments all-year round, spanning multiple continents and countries. Even as we continue to ramp up for the remainder of 2025’s events, a bevy of tournaments already await us in the coming years. Let’s check out what 2026, 2027 and 2028 has in store for the Counter-Strike scene and event calendar. The following includes all major announced tournaments. We have done our best to match the information pertaining to those tournaments to the best of our abilities and will update accordingly if necessary. January 2026 Mythical LAN Las Vegas 2026 (fl0m)more

The October 22nd update has sent shockwaves across the Counter-Strike 2 community. The update introduces a new trade-up feature that allows players to exchange 5 Covert (Red) skins for a Knife or Melee (Gold). But how do the new trade ups work? Let’s find out! How to Trade Up for a Knife/Glove in CS2 To trade up your Coverts to a Knife or Glove: Under the Inventory tab, navigate to Trade Up. For a knife/glove trade-up, select the 5 Redsmore

The CS2 skins market has experienced a dramatic crash, losing nearly $2 billion in market capital after Valve's recent update fundamentally altered the way these extremely rare items are obtained. Valve's October 22, 2025 update introduced a major change to Counter-Strike 2's Trade-Up Contract system. Players can now exchange five Covert (red rarity) weapon skins for a guaranteed knife or glove from the same collection – items that were previously ultra-rare and highly sought after, with prices often ranging frommore

Yes, you heard it right, folks! The community’s favorite warm-up mode — Retakes — is officially back in the game. The October 22nd Update has paved the way for the seventh mode added to Counter-Strike. But that’s not all — this update also introduces a new Trade Up mechanic. From now on, players can trade up five Coverts (Reds) to receive a Knife or a Glove (Gold). This change is single-handedly one of the biggest shake-ups to the Counter-Strike market,more

The MongolZ have made the shocking decision to move star rifler Azbayar "senzu" Munkhbold to the bench. The move comes as a major surprise to the Counter-Strike 2 community, as senzu has been instrumental in the team's meteoric rise to become one of the world's top squads. Senzu's Impact on The MongolZ The 19-year-old Mongolian talent has been a cornerstone of The MongolZ's success since rejoining the organization in September 2023. During this time, the team achieved historic milestones, includingmore

If you tuned into the Thunderpick World Championship 2025 Grand Finals day, you were in for an exciting ride. Starting with a MongolZ–Aurora marathon, the day concluded with FURIA and FalleN displaying the full might of Brazilian Counter-Strike to close out the event. The MongolZ Secure Third Place The MongolZ were the tournament favorites coming into the event. Unfortunately, they couldn’t keep up with NAVI, losing their chance for a rematch against FURIA. Aurora Gaming didn’t have the best timemore

The Thunderpick World Championship 2025 grand final is set! Tomorrow, Sunday, October 19th at 3:00 pm CEST Brazil’s FURIA and Europe’s NAVI will take on each other for $200,000. After an intense tournament run, both teams arrive with contrasting stories that make this matchup captivating. Journey's Leading to the Thunderpick World Championship Grand Final FURIA has steamrolled through the competition, undefeated and looking unstoppable. The Brazilian synergy and tactical sharpness have been on full display, most recently in their commandingmore

BC.Game have officially completed the signing of Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov from Virtus.pro, marking a major addition to their roster. The 27-year-old Russian rifler reunites with former Natus Vincere teammate Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev after nearly two years apart. This move restores BC.Game’s lineup to full strength following Luca "⁠pr1metapz⁠" Voigt’s benching earlier this month. A Familiar Partnership Rekindled electroNic and s1mple’s reunion revives one of the most successful duos in CS:GO history. The pair spent six years together under Natus Vinceremore

The Counter-Strike 2 skins economy has reached an unprecedented $6 billion market capitalization as of October 17, 2025, marking a historic milestone for what has become gaming's most valuable digital marketplace. However, beneath the celebratory headlines lies a troubling reality: the CS2 skins market has increasingly resembled an unregulated casino where even professional traders struggle to predict outcomes, and seemingly worthless items can suddenly skyrocket in value for no apparent reason. From Investment Platform to Pure Speculation What was oncemore

With October 6th set as the invitation date for the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025, we now have the 32 teams that will partake in the second Valve-sponsored event of the year. As per Valve’s new rules, the Budapest Major 2025 will skip the MRQs and directly begin with Stage 1 of the tournament. To qualify, teams had to accumulate as many VRS points as possible. Over the past six months, many teams have been grinding through LAN events to ensuremore

Celebrating excellence across esports in all shapes and forms, the Esports Awards return for their tenth iteration! The Esports Awards 2025 Ceremony is set to honor several names across the industry on November 19th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The final list of nominees is out, so make sure to head to this link and vote for the esports titles, players, teams, and personalities that you think deserve to be recognized for their contributions throughout the year among categories such as "Esports Game of the Year", "Streamer of the Year", and many more. Esports Awards 2025 Nominees To give you a glimpsemore

After an expected run at EPL S22, FaZe Clan has gone and done it again — another unexpected run, only this time it was unexpectedly short. At the CS Asia Championship 2025, they lost to a young FUT squad, exiting the tournament with just two wins. A Disappointing Show FaZe Clan’s CS Asia Championship 2025 journey started with the team blowing an 11-5 lead to lose 11-13 to FUT Esports (ex-NAVI Junior squad). Many discounted the loss, however, given theymore

The Thunderpick World Championship 2025 is showcasing some elite CS2 talent. Although these pros use standard hardware provided to them by the tournament organizers for the events, this doesn’t stop them from pulling out all the stops when it comes to their own at-home setups. According to some research done by Thunderpick, these setups factor in the retail value of the mouse, monitor, mousepad, keyboard, headset, GPU, and CPU – revealing some numbers and surprises among world-class competitors. Most Expensive Setup Leader: XANTARES İsmailсan "XANTARES" Dörtkardeş from Aurora tops the chart with the highest total setup cost, valued at £3,289.more