Difference between revisions of "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (video game)"

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Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive text Type Video Game Launch Date August 21. 2012 [1] Status Active Product Line Counter-Strike Platform Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Linux Website https://blog.counter-strike.net/

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) is an online multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) that was developed by Valve and released on August 21, 2012. It is one of their best-selling video games, with approximately 25 million copies sold by the end of 2016.^[2] The game is the fourth instalment in Valve's Counter-Strike series and is the direct sequel of Counter-Strike: Source. However, the game's popularity has raised a variety of potential ethical issues such as gambling, terrorism, and cheating.

Gameplay

In CS:GO, two teams (Terrorists and Counter-Terrorists) face each other and fight to complete certain objectives and win. Each team needs to win a certain number of rounds to win the entire match, with the number of rounds needed varying across game modes. The game itself is played on different maps that feature a unique and distinct layout.

Competitive

The competitive game mode features two teams of five that compete in a best-of-30 match (first team to win 16 rounds).^[3] In the defuse variation, the objective of the Terrorists is to plant and detonate a bomb on either the A-Bomb site or the B-Bomb site. As for the Counter-Terrorists, their task is to defuse or deny the planting of the bomb by eliminating the Terrorists/waiting out the round. Four scenarios lead to a round end: Counter-Terrorists defuse a planted bomb, Terrorists detonate a planted bomb, either team has all five players eliminated, or the round timer runs out. Each round lasts for 1 minute and 55 seconds if the bomb has not planted and the bomb itself has a 40-second timer. In the hostage variation, the objective of the Terrorists is to instead run down the timer and prevent hostages from being rescue, while the Counter-Terrorists must try to rescue the hostages.

Each player can purchase a variety of different guns, armor, and grenades to accomplish their objective. All players are pitted against other players of a similar skill group or rank to ensure fair matchmaking. Ranks range from the lowest being 'Silver I' and the highest being 'Global Elite'. At the end of each match, players' skill rating will be adjusted based on their performance and whether they won or lost.^[4]

Casual

Similar to the competitive game mode, the casual game mode involves the main objective of bomb defusal, bomb detonation, or hostage rescue. The main differences are that armor and defusal kits are provided for free to all players upon the start of each round, and the overall economy for purchasing utility slightly different than Competitive. Also, the casual game mode is limited to 15 rounds, and at any point, players can switch between the Terrorist side and the Counter-Terrorist side. Other notable differences include 2 minute and 15-second rounds, a maximum of 10 players on each team, and the disabling of friendly-fire. ^[5]

Deathmatch

Unlike the competitive and casual game modes, the deathmatch game mode has unlimited respawning as opposed to one life per round. Furthermore, there is no economical restriction in terms of purchasing weapons. A single round lasts 10 minutes and each player receives points dependent on eliminations. All CS:GO maps are playable on the deathmatch game mode.

Arms Race

The Arms Race game mode has players cycle through a list of weapons in progression. This game mode features unlimited respawns, and players must get two eliminations with each weapon to move on to the next one in the list, or 'promote'. The final weapon promotion is a gold knife and the winner is the first player to obtain an elimination with it. However, weapon demotion is also possible if the player is either eliminated by a knife or if the player commits suicide. Additionally, the mechanic of "Team Leader" allows for players to immediately promote to the next gun without having to get the required two eliminations. Both the Terrorists and Counter-Terrorists teams have their corresponding team leader, who is determined by the player with the furthest weapon progression. If a player eliminates the opposing team leader, they will be promoted instantly unless they are also a team leader. ^[6]

Danger Zone

With the rise of battle royale games, CS:GO released a similar game mode in December of 2018, called Danger Zone.^[7] The number of players in each match is 16, and players will need to either find cash or weapons throughout the map to eliminate the other players. With cash, a player can purchase weapons or gear that will be supplied via a drone. Similar to other battle royale games, as the match progresses the safe area will become increasingly smaller, forcing players to engage in combat. Rockets will rain down and damage the player if they are not inside the safe zone. The last player that survives wins the match.

Ethical Issues

Gambling

One of the ethical concerns that Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has is the gambling of cosmetic game items. In particular, as part of an update in 2013, Valve introduced random skin rewards when players finished a match. ^[8] These skins are purely cosmetic and do not have any influence on the overall gameplay.

These skins can be traded with other players through Steam and also could be sold through the Steam Marketplace. Furthermore, rare skins hold high market value as some knife skins are valued over $400 and some even in the thousands. ^[9] Another way to obtain skins outside of playing the game was through crates. A player may purchase a "key" that allows you to open and obtain a random weapon from these crates. Similar to slots at a casino, the odds of obtaining a rare skin that is valued more than the key is slim and commonly you are rewarded with a skin that is valued a lot less than the $2.49 key purchased.

As the game grew in popularity, websites started offering services that would allow players to bet on professional Counter-Strike matches through the use of skins as virtual currency.^[10]This promoted gambling as players could buy skins off the Steam Marketplace with real currency and then bet on these websites. Underage gambling is another issue as Steam and the gambling websites have no way to verify the age of the players. Other forms of gambling include roulette and coin flips where the player's odds would be determined by the market value of their skins.

The effect of these betting websites could be felt even in the professional e-sports scene. One instance was the iBUYPOWER match-fixing scandal where iBUYPOWER was largely favored to win their match against NetcodeGuides. However, the match ended with a win of 16-4 for NetcodeGuides and was rumored to have yielded a gain of over $10,000 through the popular betting website: CS:GO Lounge. ^[11].

Cheating

An example of what a cheater would see in game

Due to the competitive nature of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, there are players who sought potentially unethical ways to win their matches. Common cheats involve aim assistance, seeing enemies through walls, and automatic firing. Aim assistance will typically allow players to instantly lock on to the heads of their targets once they are seen on screen. Visual assistance aids the player in seeing targets through walls, highlighting the targets on the screen, and potentially showing target locations at all times on the minimap. Automatic firing can come in the form of locking onto targets and shooting for the player or have the program shoot for the player when their crosshair is over a target.

Cyberbullying and Toxicity

As with many online multiplayer games, cyberbullying is an ethical concern when there is a competitive scene associated with the game. As players are randomly placed on a team and pitted against others of similar skill levels, this can cause a highly stressful environment when they lose as each person is investing time and effort into each match. Furthermore, when the player's teammates are under-performing or "trolling" they may feel helpless as they cannot single-handily win the game due to Counter-Strike being a team-oriented game. This scenario and the anonymity of every player's identity being hidden through the internet can cause players to be toxic. Players may blame others and believe they are the reason a match was lost when it is likely that the player will never see his teammates again. Moreover, there are almost no consequences outside of being banned from the game for being toxic.

Additionally, a player's ego is another major contributor to toxicity. As players reach the apex in terms of skill level, it is common for these players to have inflated egos as they are statistically among the top players.

Terrorism

Outside of gameplay ethical concerns, the idea of making a game around terrorism in itself is an ethical issue. Although the teams are called Terrorists and Counter-Terrorists, this naming scheme doesn't seem to affect the gameplay of the game. Sponsorship companies have raised concerns in sponsoring professional players on a game to involve terrorism. ^[12] Additionally, new audiences could avoid playing or watching the game due to the game's connection with terrorism.

References