Last weekend, over a million watched the grand final of the FACEIT London Major, the 13th in a consecutive set of twice-annual tournaments for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). In the increasingly overcrowded competitive calendar for this nearly 18-year-old shooter, the Majors remain the only events directly supported by developer Valve . A $1M prize pool, in-game trinkets, and high viewership are guaranteed with every edition. To add to the exclusivity, only these tournaments can be watched live and on-demand within the Counter-Strike game client itself.

Valve’s rulebook has some stipulations, but after adhering to those, everything from sponsors to broadcast options are left up to the tournament organizer. In practice, however, there’s little else that separates the Major Championships from the other premier stadium events, such as the Intel Extreme Masters Katowice, ESL One Cologne, or EPICENTER. Some major esports are almost entirely controlled by their publishers, and some receive little support, but CS:GO remains the only game at esports’ highest tier without a singular championship, de facto or otherwise, atop its competitive pyramid.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Should CS:GO have a single, yearly championship?[/perfectpullquote]

With the success of the FACEIT Major, an age-old discussion resurfaced just after its conclusion: should CS:GO have a single, yearly championship?

The CS:GO World Cup, the Ashes of Counter-Strike, Tour de Global Offensive…there’s no single vision for what this event would look like. Esports journalist and broadcaster Rod “Slasher” Breslau specifically called for an equivalent of The International, noting that Valve uses the flagship Dota 2 tournament to unveil content and even entirely new games. CompLexity owner Jason Lake chimed in with the idea of a single “Super Major”, so as not to dismantle the current paradigm.

Others aren’t so sold on the concept, and for good reason. CS:GO represents the backbone of many third-party esports organizers, who use their biggest yearly pitches to attempt to earn the right to host their own Major Championship. Whether the company in question earns money through their own tournament platforms (like FACEIT or ESL ) or through a wider event portfolio (like DreamHack ), such high-profile tournaments are a “major” showcase of their product at its pinnacle. If Valve were to run a World Championship, to what extent would this devalue the other Majors, or the game’s global scene?

Credit: Joe Brady

More than a year on since the franchising boom arrived in esports, Valve is no closer to building an non-endemic investor-friendly league around Counter-Strike—or Dota 2 for that matter. Even The International 2018, despite its peak audience of 1.1M, boasts no more non-endemic sponsors than its earlier incarnations. The best efforts we’ve seen for stability in the CS:GO scene have been entirely out of Valve’s jurisdiction; teams who buy into FACEIT’s Esports Championship Series (ECS) are entitled to a percentage of its revenue, while the World Esports Association (WESA) similarly brought revenue sharing into the ESL Pro League. If a CS:GO “Super Major” were run by Valve, the added continuity would be great for spectators, but would offer little opportunity for brands looking for long-term commitments, or those investors still eyeing CS:GO-only team organizations.

[perfectpullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]A carbon copy of The International may not be all that beneficial to CS:GO.[/perfectpullquote]

Business aside, a carbon copy of The International may not be all that beneficial to CS:GO. The Dota 2 tournament is famous for its high prize pool, which reached upwards of $25M this year. While the increased prize money would undoubtedly benefit teams, an old-school shooter like CS:GO can’t exactly funnel in cash the same way a MOBA does—at least not right now. Dota 2 is subject to constant content expansions, from heroes to single player missions, whereas gameplay updates are relatively rare in CS:GO. Aside from more skins, stickers, and surface-level goods, there really aren’t that many toys with which to fill a prize purse.

There’s more to The International than prize money, though. When Valve introduced a Major/Minor system to Dota 2’s calendar, they took control of event scheduling. It’s no secret that CS:GO could use this kind of restraint—no sooner had the London Major wrapped up, and pro teams were already prepping to travel across the Atlantic for this weekend’s ESL One New York. That is, if they aren’t heading to Istanbul for the Blast Pro Series, which also takes place this weekend.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Right now, Counter-Strike teams need a single goal to strive for, but have no clear line of sight.[/perfectpullquote]

It is true that there some spectator sports that (outside of the Olympics) don’t require a single, overarching championship to stay relevant. In fact, many open-circuit sports do fine without one. Tennis and its four Grand Slam tournaments are as close as you can get to CS:GO’s Major structure, right down to the fact each tournament is governed by its own national body. The Open Championship may be the biggest thing in golf, but it’s just one of four major championships held every year. Boxing works around prize fights, marathon runners run marathons, etc.

All the above, however, are individual sports. CS:GO is exclusively played as a team, and there is virtually no team sport in the world without its own global championship. Everything from basketball to curling has one defining international event at the finish line. Right now, Counter-Strike teams need a single goal to strive for, but have no clear line of sight.