As part of our 2023 Esports Results, the focus moves to Counter-Strike, which saw another busy 12 months that included the introduction of a new game by Valve. While it remains some way off its viewership peaks during the late 2010s and early pandemic era, the discipline still attracted a healthy number of viewers.
Many long-time fans and pundits felt that Valorant's introduction and robust esports scene would spell disaster for CS, but the latter's performance last year showed lots of life was left in the old dog. The multiplayer tactical first-person shooter ended as the third most viewed esports discipline in 2023, edging ahead of its Riot Games competitor and Valve's other legendary IP, Dota 2.
One of the CS’ top sides — G2 Esports — made the top ten most viewed esports organizations table for 2023, thanks mainly to its successes in this FPS offering and League of Legends. Moreover, popular sides like FaZe Clan and Team Vitality continued to be successful and added to their trophy cabinets while accruing significant audience statistics.
There were also record tournaments such as the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 entered the all-time top fives for watch time and peak concurrent viewership in the discipline. Meanwhile, the ESL Pro League Season 17 ended as the third-most-watched and fourth-most-popular competition in the series, meaning there remained a large appetite for the game among viewers.
There was also Monte, the rapidly improving side from Ukraine which ended 2023 with 389 hours, the highest airtime of any team, and almost 19% more than any other side. It also played 142 matches, 26 more than any other entry while making it to the top 15 most popular organizations list. Special mention must also go to BIG, Apeks, and Sprout, who all recorded over 300 hours of airtime.
Most watched Counter-Strike teams in 2023
| Ranking
|
Team
|
Hours Watched
|
|---|---|---|
| #1
|
 |
44.90M
|
| #2
|
 |
44.45M
|
| #3
|
 |
42.73M
|
| #4
|
 |
40.53M
|
| #5
|
 |
36.03M
|
#5 Heroic
Starting the top five is Heroic with 36.04M Hours Watched, as the Danish esports organization enjoyed a steady 2023 that involved clinching the BLAST Premier: Spring Final 2023. Its most popular match of these 12 months also came against GamerLegion during the Champions Stage Semifinals of the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023, where it finished third.
Interestingly the last three names above all had an identical number of matches played across the last year, 63. This also meant they notched identical airtimes, meaning the success they had and the teams they played went a long way in deciding their overall watch times.
#4 G2 Esports
Next is G2 Esports, one of the four sides to cross the 40M HW mark in 2023 and the winner of two Intel Extreme Masters tournaments in Cologne and Katowice. Its most popular match was against ENCE during the Grand Final of the former event, which hit 727.4K Peak Viewers.
The team also got the new year off to a positive start after finishing in the top six at the BLAST Premier: Spring Groups 2024 and qualifying for the BLAST Premier: Spring Final 2024. With one of the strongest squads in the entire discipline, don't bet against the German org maintaining its amazing consistency in 2024.
#3 Team Vitality
Team Vitality is third, with the French side arguably enjoying the best run among all the top sides in the game last year. Its roll of honors included S-Tier competitions like BLAST Premier World Final 2023, BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023, Gamers8 2023, BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2023, and IEM Rio 2023.
The team also was part of the discipline's most popular game in 2023, with its Grand Final against GamerLegion at the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 notching a huge 1.5M PV. Lastly, it topped the BLAST Premier World Leaderboard 2023 with 13.9K points, almost one-fifth more than any other entry to rubberstamp one of the most consistent seasons in recent memory.
#2 FaZe Clan
Second is FaZe Clan, who played 21 more games than NAVI, meaning it was on air for over 50 hours more than its European rival. These two sides were also part of last year's second-most popular match when they clashed on Day 4 of the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023's Legends Stage.
However, the American organization with a European roster can take solace in the fact that it enjoyed a much more successful season. It enjoyed eight wins last year, including prominent tournaments like the IEM Sydney 2023 and the ESL Pro League Season 17.
#1 NAVI
The most viewed Counter-Strike side for 2023 is Natus Vincere, perhaps the most followed organizations in the game's lengthy history. One of the big reasons for this Ukrainian team's massive popularity is s1mple, considered one of the game's best players of all time who enjoys a massively loyal fanbase globally thanks to his gameplay and straight-shooting attitude.
NAVI's 44.9M HW was only 1% higher than the next-best entry as the team endured a mixed 2023 that saw it miss out on the latter stages of quite a few events. However, the number of matches it played (58) was somewhere in the middle of the table, showing that even if they're in action for lesser airtime, s1mple & Co still manage to pull in a massive number of viewers.
Most popular CS sides from other regions in 2023
North America: Team Liquid
Team Liquid finished as the eighth most-viewed side overall and number one among rosters from North America. It did not see much success last year but participated in the main stage of multiple S-Tier events, including Major playoffs — a key reason for it making it to the top ten of teams by the watch time metric.
South America: FURIA Esports
The presence of FalleN in its ranks has ensured FURIA Esports receives universal love and support wherever it plays. Brazil has one of the most passionate fanbases, and its love for Counter-Strike and FPS games, in general, is well-known, which is why its sides are always well-supported and followed globally, even if their watch times and tangible successes are not as much as the more prominent names mentioned above.
Among non-Brazilian sides, 9z Team — an Argentine esports org — has made a name for itself as one of the best tier-two sides from Latin America. It had almost ten competition wins last year, although they were mainly in the B and C tiers, but it will be a team to watch out for from South America in 2024.
Oceania: Grayhound Gaming
Grayhound Gaming is perhaps the biggest name in the sport from its region, with its owner reviving a bankrupt ORDER's CS:GO squad and rebirthed it in this new avatar. The side racked up a few victories last year and translated this regional success into a major moment when it qualified for the Paris Major, which is a big reason for it being number one here.
Asia: The MongolZ
The MongolZ is a Mongolian esports organization formed by reviving the former IHC Esports lineup in the summer of 2023. The team has been pretty strong in its region but is still looking for that one defining win that will put it in the big time. The squad will hope that moment comes this year, which has started well with qualification for the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024: Asia-Pacific RMR sewn up.
The new season has gotten underway with the BLAST Spring Groups, which saw six sides head to the mid-season Spring Final. It promises to be another exciting year of CS2 action with numerous tournaments and events, and it remains to be seen which sides maintain their dominance and which ones emerge as part of the new power bloc.
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