Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) is one of the most popular first-person shooters on the market. The fourth game in the franchise, it has slowly amassed a vast number of passionate players. This has made it one of the most lucrative eSports franchises in the world.
Developed by Valve, the developers were initially critiqued due to the smaller tournament prize pools when compared to other games they owned, such as DOTA 2. However, it has since held a $1 million tournament and been named eSports Game of the year at the 2016 Industry Awards.
The weighty prizes of these extremely popular tournaments naturally lures in the best of the best in CS:GO gaming to compete to work out who are the top teams and individual players in the world.
Like with any sport this changes year upon year, but see below for the current top players in the world ranked 1st to 5th.
1. s1mple
| Maps Played | K/D Score | Rating |
| 162 | +1117 | 1.33 |
s1mple is the moniker of Aleksandr Kostyliev, the current highest earner in CS:GO. A Ukrainian national, he started playing Counterstrike Global Offensive at the age of four. Spurred on by support from his older brother, he began playing CS:GO on its launch day and was in a professional team just a year later. Not long after, he was signed to Courage Gaming.
Unfortunately, Kostyliev has been at the heart of many controversies. As a result of this, he had a quick exit from team Flipsid3 Tactics, which gave him the reputation of being hard to work with, thus hampering his career.
Kostyliev then moved to China to study and finished his education in Los Angeles. Here he became a permanent member of Team Liquid CS:GO, who would go on to have an impressive run and become the first North American team to reach a major final. He later moved to team Na’Vi in late 2016, with whom he has since won numerous awards.
2. ZywOo
| Maps Played | K/D Score | Rating |
| 146 | +762 | 1.25 |
Mathieu Herbaut is a French professional CS:GO player who goes by the name of ZywOo. He is widely considered to be one of the best players in the world.
He ranked first on HLTV’s Top 20 Players of the Year when he was only 19 years old, which made him the youngest player to ever feature on it. He also holds the record for the most HLTV MVP awards. Coincidently, Herbaut was born on the day of the original Counter Strike release, earning him the nickname of ‘The Chosen One.’
Playing since the age of seven, he was only allowed one hour of gaming a day by his mother. He signed a professional contract with Team Vitality once he had graduated from university in 2018. His team soon secured a spot in the majors and despite finishing 9th out of 11, his results were outstanding.
3. sh1ro
| Maps Played | K/D Score | Rating |
| 163 | +1034 | 1.24 |
Dmitry Sokolov is known to the world of CS:GO as sh1ro. At 20 years old, he currently plays for team Cloud9. Hailing from the Russian Federation, sh1ro had the prestigious accolade of being voted the fourth-best player of 2021 by HLTV.
He has also received multiple MVP awards, from IEEM Katowice and the V4 Future Sports Festival. His most recent first-place position was at the 2022 Funspark ULTI Tournament.
4. NiKo
| Maps Played | K/D Score | Rating |
| 151 | +497 | 1.22 |
NiKo is the gamertag of Nikola Kovac, a CS:GO player hailing from Bosnia. His career started in 2011, when he played for a range of teams, gradually honing his skills.
Over the next few years, NiKo built his reputation until finally signing a deal with Mousesports. After winning a host of awards, he moved on to FaZe Clan. The team would enter periods of contradictions, with back-to-back wins followed by losing periods. Throughout it all however, NiKo consistently maintained excellent personal performances.
After a slight dip in form, Kovac signed up to work for G2 Esports. Here he returned to his old self, working his way to a number four ranking in the HLTV top twenty.
5. Ax1Le
| Maps Played | K/D Score | Rating |
| 163 | +500 | 1.19 |
Sergey Rykhtorov is a pro-CS:GO player from the Russian Federation, playing for team Cloud9. He has won several accolades such as being voted the fifth-best player of 2021 by HLTV. They also named him MVP for the ESL Pro League Season 13 and IEM Summer 2021.
How to Go Pro in CS:GO?
You are only ever going to go pro if you establish yourself as a formidable player who is exceptionally good at the game. To do this, you’ll need to develop a practice schedule and devote time to gaming each day. It’s not enough to just play the game: you’ll have to take your gameplay very seriously by setting yourself training goals and scenarios. In addition, it’s a good idea to try and understand how other teams think and play the game, before reflecting on your own tactics.
Another way to refine your skills is to try different CS:GO pro settings and control options so you can adapt the game to your needs and playing style. Many of these can be adjusted in the game options. You may also need to invest in some quality gaming equipment, to get the right setup, including a special gaming mouse, and headphones along with a gaming chair.
There is a wealth of materials online to help you improve: browse YouTube videos, and Twitch streams and read up on the game. The golden rule is to make sure you watch professional players in tournaments: study their successes and adopt their tactics, and also take note of what sets them apart from other players. Make sure you watch different teams and see how they use different tactics to achieve their goals.
When you feel you have the skills, then you need to go social, or people will not notice you. It’s a great idea to set up social media accounts and begin streaming games. Through doing this, you can start to earn money from this as you build followers through advertising. Another way to gain income is to consider selling skins to get some added revenue. All this will take time, so do not expect fame to come overnight.
After this, you need to find a team. This will be like learning all over again, as you must work with them repeatedly to get the chemistry right. If you get a team together, then you also need a professional coach to help you along. They can see the game from a different point of view, providing ideas and guiding the squad.
Once you have your squad, enter as many tournaments as possible. Win or lose, make sure you learn from any mistakes, and slowly but surely you will start to climb the ranks.
When Did CS:GO Come Out?
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was first released on August 21st, 2012. It was the fourth game in the Counter-Strike series and was made available to play on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows, Linux, and macOS.
How Much Do Pro CS:GO Players Make?
The transfer fees of CS:GO players between teams are public knowledge. However, their salary is not, making it hard to pin down an exact figure. Estimations are that the top ten players earn around $40,000 a month each, which increases depending on bonuses from Twitch streams and sponsorships. The next tier of players gain around $15,000 to $20,000 monthly.
How Much Do CS:GO Players Make?
While not public knowledge, rank and file players earn much less than CS:GO pro players, with their salary predicted to be between $2000 to $5000 a month. Additional bonuses such as sponsorships, merchandise revenue, and money from streaming can increase this.
