The just concluded IEM Cologne 2024 is one of the last versions before some changes happen on the CS2 scene. The IEM Cologne 2024 is one of the most important Counter-Strike 2 events of the year, but by next year, it will be affected by some of the changes to the esports ecosystem.
Veteran player and streamer fl0m has aired his thoughts about expectations for the future of the industry. The American has always been more or less a stakeholder in the scene since 2012 when CS:GO was released. At the IEM Cologne 2024, he was one of the guests and while speaking to the press on August 17 in terms of projections for CS2.
The 31-year-old expressed lack of a foresight for what Valve could do for the future of the industry.
“I don’t think anybody knows what’s going to happen next year. Everybody’s going to be winging it and hoping for the best, basically. As of right now, I could see there being way more tournaments, which would be a good thing, but also, if people don’t play nice in terms of tournament organizers and everybody just ends up conflicting with one another all the way through, it’s not going to help the players. It’s actually going to make it worse.” Fl0m said.
However, he examined how beneficial the tweaks will be for tier-one teams like G2 Esports, Astralis, FaZe Clan, MOUZ, and Team Liquid, amongst others.
Valve announced in August plans to do an open circuit arrangement with CS2 esports, bringing an end to the partnership leagues, although the competitors will only be affected by the changes by 2025. Furthermore, other organizers, including StarLadder and PGL, also announced a few open circuits in upcoming events in 2025’s calendar, which will receive massive changes.
However, these changes and multiple events should translate to more opportunities for NA players.
