The 20th Anniversary of CS:GO – CS:GO Daily Recap 6/19/19
Hey everyone, welcome back to another exciting day of Counter-Strike news.
That’s right, it’s been two decades since the original mod for Half-Life came out, back when Smash Mouth was big and everyone was freaking out about Y2K. CS communities around the world are celebrating the occasion in their own special ways, including a surprise from Valve themselves, so let’s jump right in and join the party.
Old school Throwbacks for the CS:GO 20th Anniversary
Our first stop today is Denmark, where news site DR has published an article covering the history of Counter-Strike and it’s creator Minh Le.
Minh, whose family fled Vietnam in 1979 following the Vietnam War, created the game in a Vancouver B.C. basement in 1999. The then 22-year-old wanted to create a shooter that was less about just “fragging”, as getting a kill was called back then, an opponent, and more about smart, strategic play. While the game started out as just a mod for the original Half-Life, it quickly grew into something more, eventually leading to several sequels in 1.6 and Global Offensive.
Fans were ravenously passionate about the game, and the article includes pictures of emails from the time to Minh from fans. Many of these emails contained positive feedback for the young developer, though some, such as the one above, were a little less tame, to say the least.
Probably the most interesting part of the article is the section on the name of the game: Counter-Strike was not the first idea for a name for the game. Original ideas for it include Counter-Terrorist Forces, FragForces, and International World Soldiers. Eventually, Minh and his development partner Jesse Cliffe would settle on Counter-Strike, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Retro Maps and AUG Nerfs
Speaking of history, Valve’s jumping in on the celebration with some old school goodies for long-time fans.
In an update that dropped today, Valve changed Dust2, bringing back the old school layout and textures of the map from the original game. Fans looking for a trip down memory lane can jump into Casual mode to play the old-school layout, and see just how far the game has come in 20 years. Be aware, however, that it randomly swaps between the old and new layout of the map between rounds, so if you don’t see it when you first load up, just keep playing, you’ll get it soon.
The update also brings in chicken capsules for purchase, which contain chicken-themed stickers inside. Also included in the update is a nerf to the AUG, which saw a reduction in its accuracy while unscoped and rate of fire. The nerfs are fairly substantial, and many in the community have questioned how it will impact the upcoming Major.
Perfect World’s Celebration
While the AUG nerf is a bit of a bummer, Chinese fans are likely to not have noticed with all the new events taking place.
Perfect World, who run the game in China, has decided to mark CS:GO’s 20th anniversary by holding a series of events to celebrate. Besides holding a t-shirt design competition, PW is also selling a bundle of new items, including shirts and mousepads. What’s more, fans can also submit photos of their favorite CS memories to share with the community, creating a collage of pictures from throughout the game’s storied history. While there’s nothing like this in the West so far, keep an eye out for later this week as the community continues to turn-up the celebration.
That’s all we’ve got for today, we’ll be back tomorrow with more CSGO news. Thanks for sticking with us, and happy birthday Counter-Strike! Congrats on 20 wonderful years, and here’s to 20 more!
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