Counter Strike: Global Offensive
It’s tough to talk about spectator-friendly esports, or esports in general, and not mention Counter Strike: Global Offensive. The Counter Strike franchise has a lineage steeped in competitive gaming and over the last few years, Global Offensive’s popularity has exploded in a truly remarkable way. One of the biggest reasons for this is the fact that CS:GO stands tall as one of the easiest esports to really get into as a viewer. Not only are there tons of resources generated from the game’s massive fan base, such as Team Liquid’s Counter Strike wiki which details all the major teams and events, but there are also a multitude of leagues and tournaments run daily by large organizations such as ESL and Faceit which ensures there will always be a competitive game to watch. And when getting into a game, exposure is everything.
At any point in the day, you can head over to ESL’s Twitch channel and watch either live tournaments or reruns of past tournaments. CS:GO also boasts some of the most veteran analysts and commentators across most esports who explain happenings in each game as well as individual team plays clearly, making it very easy to follow the excitement. TBS has even picked up a CS:GO esports league, ELeague, to play each Friday on the TV channel. Having the clever insight to know that airing the esport on TV may bring in a new audience, the casters and analysts on the program go out of their way to explain even the most simplistic of competitive mechanics for the game, which makes it hands down one of the best places to start checking out CS:GO.
