CS:GO vs. Valorant: Which Esports Is More Popular?

Image Credit: Viciplay

Undoubtedly, CS: GO is one of the most popular first-person shooter games in the esports scene. This video game, developed by Valve, has dominated similar genres in the eSports scene for over a decade, becoming the model for new FPS video games. Riot Games, a huge competitor in the esports scene, released Valorant in 2020, an FPS game inspired by CS: GO.

Although Valorant is relatively new in the esports scene, it’s become a popularly loved game in the industry. This has generated an argument among lovers of both games on which of the esports disciplines is currently the most popular.

The Origin And Scale Of CS: GO and Valorant In The eSports Scene

CS: GO is the fourth installment of the Counter-Strike series, and it’s the most successful of the franchise. The game was released as the final and perfect touch to the previous games, incorporating all features required by players in reviews. Since its release by Valve in 2012, it has dominated the FPS scene, retaining the title of the biggest first-person shooter game in the industry.

With over a decade in the scene, CS: GO has pulled some amazing stats in tournaments, events, fans, pool prizes, and merchandise sales. In addition, the game has become a source of income for several pro gamers, giving them not only money but fame and reputation in the eSports scene. The beauty of the CS: GO discipline is that the fun and benefits are not only for active players; you can also earn an income as a fan from CS: GO betting, coaching, journalism, and content creation.

The influence of this game on the esports scene is why it’ll be regarded as the greatest FPS game for many years to come. Hence, it’s not surprising to see new FPS games take after CS: GO in an attempt to capitalize on its features and hopefully surpass it in popularity. Valorant is a game like that, copying CS: GO’s five-a-side tactical teams to compete with each other and complete missions.

Valorant was released in 2020 by Riot Games, a huge developer in the esports scene with notable game titles in its portfolio. The game was widely accepted, having over 1.7 million viewers during its beta launch. It also holds annual tournaments known as the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT), with a grand prize of $1,000,000. The competition in Valorant is as interesting as CS: GO, giving it widespread attention that could rival CS: GO in popularity.

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How Does Valorant Compare To CS: GO In Popularity?

Although Valorant is fast gaining attention in the esports scene, it still has a long way to go compared to CS: GO in popularity and any other feature. Currently, CS: GO averages about 35 million active players monthly, while Valorant averages 12 million. Of course, this stat varies across gaming platforms, but it’s not only by player count that CS: GO takes the crown in popularity. The other features are highlighted in the headings below.

Tournaments

CS: GO started major tournaments in 2013, enriching players and pulling massive numbers in viewership yearly. These tournaments, known as Majors, are well known in the esports scene, providing some of the most thrilling and suspenseful plays in the eSports scene. Every year, 16 teams battle it out at chosen arenas to compete for pool prizes ranging from a minimum of $1,000,000 to tens of millions of dollars.

CS: GO tournaments have created jobs, merchandise, revenue, and better visibility for the eSports industry. The tournament has peaked at 2.1 million viewers before and over 60 million watch hours. This feat is not easily achieved by other esports disciplines, putting the game further up in popularity.

As established already, Valorant is a relatively new game, making a peak viewership of 1.73 million during its beta launch. In tournaments, it has recorded about 1.5 million peak viewership in the 2022 Valorant Champions. However, its merchandise and influence over the esports scene are less popular, which could hopefully become better in the coming years.

Betting

In the esports scene, CS: GO made esports betting as popular as it is today. Due to the popularity and influence of CS: GO, you’ll find thousands of websites dedicated to giving tips, guides, and betting markets to CS: GO. You can make your CS bets on tips.gg/betting/csgo-sites/, where you’re assured of getting the best odds and make huge winnings on small deposits. CS: GO betting has been in vogue for years, creating several millionaires in many countries with the many betting markets offered. In the whole of the esports scene, no other disciple compares to CS: GO in esports betting.

The popularity of CS: GO betting scene greatly overshadows Valorant betting. As it’s still a new game with few tournaments so far, Valorant doesn’t have a wealth of data like CS: GO for fans to make informed bets. Hence, it’s unsurprising to find it difficult to get a valorant betting site. However, at the pace it’s growing, Valorant can become as prominent as CS GO in betting.

Image Credit: Steam

Trends

You can crown CS: GO as the king of trends in the esports scene, especially in the FPS genre. So many games in the FPS scene today copy CS: GO game mechanics, settings, and missions, showing how big of a trendsetter it is. Valorant is one of the games, and it’ll take years to reach the scale of CS: GO popularity and have a game themed after it. CS: GO is also the first game to start trading “skins,” which has popularly evolved to NFTs in many video games today.

Career Opportunities

The career opportunities you can explore off the popularity of CS: GO are almost unmatched by any other esports discipline. Asides from being a professional player that earns from tournaments, you can make a living from content creation, skin trading, journalism, coaching, events planning, and many more. Unfortunately, Valorant is yet to achieve that status in popularity and can take a good number of years with the presence of CS: GO.

Conclusion

With these points, you should have no doubt in mind that CS: GO has better popularity than Valorant. CS: GO has dominated the FPS scene for years, and it’ll take years of something spectacular to displace it from its stronghold. Valorant is on the path to executing this with its meteoric rise over the past few years. Hopefully, the new esports discipline stays consistent with its numbers and spectacular features to pull off this feat.

 

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