It has been a searing question in the mind of many Counter-Strike: Global Offensive fans for the professional scene, tripled by recent outbursts from MIBR and fans threatening the safety of anyone that has the unfortunate luck to face MIBR within a server.
Death threats, flaming, hurling epithets, and a healthy number of ‘don’t come to the Major if you value your life’ tweets have been thrown to everyone and everyone with the audacity to punish MIBR for their more recent issues.
Fans have been calling for Valve, in particular, to shift the upcoming Major at the end of the year away from Brazil in fear of the number of threats that have been levied from that region.
This, doubling with the consistent COVID-19 outbreaks that bring them on par with the United States (a competition that no one should be wanting to win) has seemingly culminated into an interesting tweet from analyst Chad ‘SpunJ’ Burchill.
[embed]https://twitter.com/SPUNJ/status/1296521418872688647?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw[/embed]Whether this is due specifically to the threats emerging from a rabid fan base, or if the COVID-19 increase within Brazil has pushed Valve‘s decision on this, it apparently doesn’t matter: Brazil is no longer the harbor for the Major.
Many are pointing to this likely resulting in an online Major, the first that we’ve been able to find ever happening in an event that punctuates the professional Counter-Strike scene as being the single greatest achievement for a team within the scene: to win a Major speaks plainly that the team is the best in the world at that time, and it’s an honor that many teams struggle valiantly to achieve.
Some may be a bit concerned about drawing so much speculation from a singular tweet, but Chad Burchill is a solid analyst that has developed immaculately over the years; his involvement in the upcoming Majors is likely, if not guaranteed, based on pedigree and competence alone.
If it isn’t an online Major, this could have blowback; COVID-19 is one thing, but threats resulting in Valve needing to shift the location from Brazil (who was likely banking on the increase in tourism) could have long-term consequences for the title within Brazil.
We’ll all need to wait for the full story to come from those closely tied in with the upcoming Major, which is currently scheduled for November 9 through November 22.
There have been no official statements from either Valve or CS:GO regarding the rumors that are now circulating across the internet, and speculation should be held at arm’s length until the precise cause of this alleged shift come to light.