A small part of Counter Strike and esports history has come to an end as ESEA have announced they are shutting down their Counter Strike 1.6 servers.
ESEA made the following statement..
“When ESEA was founded, the only game it supported was Counter-Strike 1.6. Although Counter-Strike had already solidified itself as one of the founders of esports, the growth since its infancy has been staggering. Through all iterations of Counter-Strike, Counter-Strike 1.6 has long been a fan favorite and will go down as one of the best games ever made, period.
In 2014 we officially shut down all CS:S servers, and today we do the same for Counter-Strike 1.6. For many of us Counter-Strike 1.6 has played a large role in our life, from being the basis of lifetime friendships to developing esports legends that many of us still look up to today. It ultimately is what allowed ESEA to be what it is today.
As a token of our appreciation for all of those who have been with us since the start, all current ESEA Premium and Insider members who have previously played a Counter-Strike 1.6 pug, before matchmaking was released, will have a special badge placed on their profile in the near future.
The future is bright for Counter-Strike in esports, and Counter-Strike is here to stay with Global Offensive leading the way. It’s not going anywhere and neither is ESEA. Here’s to another 14 more years, and beyond!”
