Why CS:GO esports is dead in Asia
Tyloo roster 2016
CS:GO is a staple game around the world with a rich history in Esports. Many people have been playing it ever since its conception as a Half-life mod in 2000. The strongest teams are located mostly in Europe and South America and just a few in North America. But contrary to its Valve brethren Dota 2, CS:GO esports is not that popular in Asia. Asia has been known to produce a lot of great esports talent in Dota 2, League of Legends and even Valorant. Let’s take a look at the reasons why.
Asia did have some pro teams that had some success against the best in the world. Tyloo was able to demolish peak Luminosity Gaming way back in 2016 not once but twice and just recently The MongolZ was able to compete in the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2023. Sure they didn’t win the event but they left an impression that Asian CS can get better.
There are a few talents in Asia but it’s just that, just a few. Many people believe this is the main reason why there are only a few people with talent you can skrim with to learn. The best way to get good is to play with other good players. Compared to Europe where there are an abundance of good teams you can skrim with. The only chance Asian teams get to play with European teams is if they qualify for a big tournament and go to the location and book the skrims there. This opportunity does not come often.
Overall the game is not that popular in Asia as a whole, yes there are people playing in China and Japan but that is dwarfed compared to the LoL, Valorant and Dota 2 player base.
Another reason might be that the game is too complex for casual players to enjoy. There are a lot of lineups to master and strategies to learn. Compared to Valorant, which is very friendly to casuals. This gives Valorant a healthy playerbase in Asia. The matchmaking is also a factor, it is just so bad right now. There are sometimes hackers and the teammates are just all over the place. There is a reason why Faceit is still the best matchmaking service in CS:GO right now.
There are still hopes though, Counter-Strike 2 is just around the corner and that brings some sort of hope to boost the popularity of the game in the region. New game means it will gain more traction and hopefully bring some new players and talent to the pool in the long run.