Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is one of the most popular first-person shooter games. It appeared in 1999 as a modification of Half Life called Counter-Strike and has since undergone dozens of changes and improvements on its way to CS:GO, an esports title with millions of players and fans.

Players choose one of the two teams – attacking or defending team. Depending on the map, on which the game is played, each team must complete a certain obligatory task to win. For example, defuse a bomb or neutralize the attacking team. In turn, the latter must prevent these tasks from being carried out. 

Each team has five players. For successfully completing tasks in each round, players get money for which they can buy equipment such as weapons or bulletproof vests which greatly increase their chances of winning. Communication between players, tactics, strategy, aiming accuracy, and reaction time are very important in the game. 

Who plays and watches CS:GO broadcasts?

The audience of players and fans of the game is quite diverse. These are people of different ages, types of activities and interests in addition to esports. In Europe, CS:GO is played mainly by people aged 18 to 30, and in the CIS it is an audience of 23–35 years old. In Asia, CS:GO is played by people of all ages. 

First of all, players and fans are a solvent and interested audience. They are ready to buy merchandise and are loyal not only to the brand presence in esports, but also use products of companies that have become sponsors of esports events. These are not schoolchildren who always sit at the computer and are not interested in anything else, as it is commonly believed. This is a socially active audience, as well as players and fans of traditional sports like football. They go to the cinema, read books, keep vlogs on Youtube, follow the trends and life of celebrities, news and events in the world. 

What is the scale of CS:GO in the world?

The game has an incredible number of fans around the world, and it is confirmed by statistics of downloads and online views. In addition, offline tournaments gather entire stadiums, and the prize pools exceed $1 million. Here are some important statistics. 

The maximum number of CS:GO players for the entire time was: 850 485 – peak for the whole time. 647 461 – peak in August 2019

For the entire time, the game client was downloaded more than 105 344 000 times (According to steamspy.com)

Prize funds by this title range from several thousand dollars to $1.5 million at WESG 2017 (According to escharts.com)

If we talk about people who watch CS:GO tournaments, the audience ranges from a few tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of spectators.

At ELEAGUE Major 2017, the peak of spectators was 1 331 781, and in 2018, it was 1 329 096 – at the same ELEAGUE Major tournament (according to Esports Charts excluding Chinese platforms)

Can brands integrate in CS:GO?

Absolutely! CS:GO allows not only standard types of integration such as Twitch-channel branding, logo or product placement in the studio, but also branding of textures in the game itself! Every player and viewer will be able to see the native advertising without taking their eyes off the tournament. 

So the brand will definitely not go unnoticed and will be able to attract the attention of a huge audience of viewers. In addition, viewers not only have a good attitude towards companies investing in esports, but are also willing to buy products of the brands they see. You can find out more about tournament brand integrations here.

COUNTER-STRIKE: GLOBAL OFFENSIVE BY WEPLAY!

WePlay! Esports not only integrates brands into various esports titles, but also creates entire shows that fans will remember for a long time. During WePlay! Forge of Masters – CS:GO tournament at Expocentre, the studio of analysts and commentators was located right in the auditorium, not behind the scenes. Talents walked among the crowds of enthusiastic fans, and this brought them and the players as close as possible, created friendly atmosphere and helped to get a packed house.

We use any opportunity of offline and online integration if it helps to build a strong connection between the brand and the new audience including those methods that are consistent with current brand objectives. So hundreds of thousands of viewers of online and offline events around the world will learn about your brand!