HLTV in the world of CS:GO
HLTV or Half-Life television. That is how the history of the most well-known CS portal started. People do not fully understand how lucky we are, because no other game has such a detailed resources with statistics and archives. However, more than 20 years have passed, and HLTV has had its ups and downs. This source is still in a row, but why? Let’s get down to business!
Everyone who follows esports CS:GO at least a little must use the HLTV resource. Here you can find something simple like the schedule of matches and the whole statistics of teams, players, and tournaments. After 20 years of operation, HLTV has provided so many features that there is a lot to watch there. With huge budgets, no competitor could come close to the level of this Internet resource. Let’s find out why this is so together with Cyber-sport.io!
When was HLTV portal created?
In 2002, 20 students decided to contribute to the CS industry. At that time, eSports was gaining popularity, and the prize pools at tournaments already amounted to $1,000,000. Everything was fine, but there was one problem. Nearly two years have passed since the release of Counter-Strike, and people still needed a straightforward way to watch matches. Tournament organizers had to spend a lot of resources to convey information about upcoming tournaments and games to the audience.
Fast Internet was not in every house then, and even if the viewers had a link to the stream, it is not a fact that they could watch the match. This problem had a practical solution, and it was called Half-Life TV. That is a feature for watching live matches right in the game. Half-Life TV almost did not load the network, so it was possible to watch matches even with slow Internet.
The problem with finding the IP addresses of the matches was solved by the already-mentioned students. They created a site just as a hub with IP addresses for Half-Life TV. Soon the hub became a separate “Matches” tab, and HLTV editors published Counter-Strike news on the main page. Thus, all site visitors who searched for the IP address of the match could get acquainted with the news.
HLTV online museum
In 2003, HLTV received two significant upgrades. Firstly, a tab with a demonstration of past matches was added, which helped viewers to review the championships at any time convenient for them. Secondly, HLTV server booking became available. Now the organizers of small tournaments could rent a server for matches. The site was actively developed and became a part of eSports CS.
In 2006, another exciting tab appeared, which we highly recommend visiting. We are talking about the gallery tab, where photos from all significant tournaments are published. That is a fascinating section; you can get stuck in it for the whole evening.
HLTV statistics
The primary function of HLTV, namely detailed statistics, was added to the resource only seven years after its creation. Since 2009, users can view the statistics of any team or player. This update was one of the key ones in the project’s history. It’s hard to imagine CS: GO today without HLTV statistics. Both analysts and tournament organizers use this.
HLTV TOP-20 players
The following year, the well-known section “Top 20 Players of the Year” appeared on the site. At the end of each year, the editor-in-chief of HLTV ranks the best cybersportsmen and publishes them 1 per day.
HLTV CS:GO awards
With the release of CS:GO, HLTV statistics began to look more like what we see today. The first match in CS:GO was shown on HLTV — NIP vs PRIME. It may surprise many, but the team ranking on HLTV only appeared in 2015. At that time, the top 1 place was occupied by the Swedish team Fnatic. Since 2016, HLTV has been awarded the best player in every major tournament. In 2020, news came out that incredibly excited the entire community: the site’s founders sold their project for 35 million euros.
When was HLTV sold?
In 2020 HLTV was sold, and it became clear that nothing terrible had happened. The site’s new owners work well on this resource and do not make fundamental changes. That is the main thing. The new funding allowed HLTV to host the awards ceremony for last year’s TOP-20 players. That was the 1st time the HLTV community recognized the best player of the year not just by an article but during an actual ceremony.
As a result, esports CS:GO would not be so popular without HLTV. Even we often check all the information on this site when writing an article. Why do you think this particular Internet resource continues to be the best of the best? You can write your thoughts in the comments or leave them on social networks. Share your experience with Cyber-sport.io. Subscribe and follow the latest eSports news!
