Electronic Sports World Cup

Lore & Background

Minh Le and Jess Cliffe planned a game based on counter-terrorism in 1998 with development beginning the following year. Their initial version started as a modification for Half-Life and gained significant popularity, attracting Valve, which acquired the intellectual property and partnered with Le and Cliffe. The game was released by Valve for Microsoft Windows in November 2000.

In Their Own Story

The air inside the Paris convention center hummed with the tension of thousands of spectators. On stage, under the blinding arena lights, the final match of the ESWC was reaching its climax on de_dust2. The crowd fell silent as the CTs planted their last hope, a single defuse attempt against a perfectly coordinated T-side rush. In that moment, the distinction between a Valve Major and this French spectacle vanished; only the pure, unadulterated skill of Counter-Strike remained.

Reader's Guide

Counter-Strike is a team-based multiplayer first-person shooter in which players play as Terrorists or Counter-Terrorists. Each round begins with both teams spawning simultaneously. Players start with $800, two magazines of ammo, a knife, and a handgun (USP for Counter-Terrorists, Glock 18c for Terrorists). They may purchase equipment in buy zones. When killed, players become spectators until the round ends. At the end of each round, players receive money: $3,500 for winning, $1,500 for losing, and $300 per kill, up to a maximum of $16,000. Players can lose money by killing a teammate or a hostage. Objectives include bomb defusal (prefix de_), hostage rescue (prefix cs_), and assassination (prefix as_). A fourth objective, Escape, formerly existed. The HUD shows player health, armor, ammunition, money, round timer, and icons for key locations. Weapons are categorized as melee (knife), secondary (handguns), and primary (rifles, shotguns, machine guns, submachine guns). Equipment like defusing kits and grenades have separate carry limits.

Did You Know?

• The game was originally a modification for Half-Life.
• Minh Le and Jess Cliffe connected through Internet Relay Chat to develop the mod.
• The name Counter-Strike was chosen from a list of suggestions based on Le's favorite TV shows and movies.
• Weapon choices were inspired by films such as Ronin, Air Force One, and Léon: The Professional.
• The official Counter-Strike web page was launched on March 24, 1999.