HLTV, formerly an initialism of Half-Life Television, is a news website and forum which covers professional Counter-Strike 2 esports news, tournaments and statistics. It is one of the leading websites within the Counter-Strike community[3] with over 4 million unique visitors each month.[4] In February 2020, the site was acquired by the sports betting group Better Collective.[1]

HLTV
OwnersBetter Collective[1]
Founder(s)
  • Martin "Rosenchef" Rosenbæk
  • Per "Nomad" Lambæk
EditorsLucas "LucasAM" Aznar Miles
Luis "MIRAA" Mira
Milan "Striker" Švejda
Zvonimir "Professeur" Burazin
Bünyamin "BenjaCS" Bektaş[citation needed]
Key people
  • Martin "Rosenchef" Rosenbæk (CEO)[2]
  • Per "Nomad" Lambæk (CTO)
  • Petar "Tgwri1s" Milovanovic (CCO)
URLwww.hltv.org Edit this at Wikidata
Current statusActive

History

 
HLTV's old logo

HLTV was founded in 2002 by Martin "Martin" Rosenbæk[5] and Per "Nomad" Lambæk.[6][7] It was initially created to host recordings of Counter-Strike 1.6 matches, although it grew to include Counter-Strike and Half-Life news.[7] HLTV started storing GOTV demos for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive when they were introduced in 2012. It has since evolved to include news, statistics, and analysis for the professional esports scene of Global Offensive.

Since late 2015, HLTV ranks the teams based on their own rating system.[8][9] HLTV have awarded Most Valuable Player (MVP) medals to the highest performing player at each tournament. They also award Exceptionally Valuable Player (EVP) medals to players putting in an above average performance. In 2016, HLTV launched dust2.dk, a website dedicated to the Counter-Strike scene in Denmark. They followed this up in 2017 by launching dust2.us, a local website for the Americas. Data, such as professional match results, are fed through from the subsidiary websites to HLTV.[10][11] Since 2010 with the first version of Counter-Strike, HLTV has ranked all of the professional Counter-Strike players based on their performance that year. In May 2019, HLTV was officially integrated into Global Offensive, where you can now find professional tournaments, provided by data from HLTV.[12]

HLTV has received many visual updates throughout the years, with the most recent one taking place in 2017.[13]

In 2020, HLTV announced that it and sister site dust2.dk had been acquired by Better Collective, a sports betting group based in Denmark.[1][14][15]

HLTV rating

The HLTV rating is the most widely used rating system in Counter Strike 2, and is often used outside of HLTV.[16][17]

Rating 1.0

Rating 1.0 was introduced to HLTV in 2010 with the first version of Counter-Strike. This rating was based on the number of kills per round, the survival rate of a player per round, and the amount of multikills a player got, which is known as the impact rating. The higher each of these values are, the higher rating a player would get.[18] The HLTV 1.0 rating came under criticism for being too similar to the Kill/Death ratio.[19]

Rating 2.0

Rating 2.0 was introduced to HLTV on June 6, 2017, as an update to Rating 1.0. Added were two new factors, Kill/Assist/Survival/Traded (KAST) and Average Damage per Round (ADR), along with a changed impact rating. KAST measures the percentage of rounds where a player contributes by killing an enemy, assisting a teammate, surviving a round or getting revenge on an enemy for killing a teammate, known as trading. Impact rating is based on the number of multi-kills, opening kills, 1vX situations (clutches) won and other undisclosed factors. Rating 2.0 is meant to be more accurate than Rating 1.0, since it includes more factors to measure the player's performance.[18] Despite these new adjustments, it is still considered by some to not cover enough.[19] Generally speaking, AWPers and so-called "star riflers" are favored by this rating.[20] The sniper generally has a higher K/D ratio due to the nature of the weapon, while the star riflers will be put in the most impactful positions on the map. Meanwhile, the players who set up the star players will generally not be favored by this system. This can be through the form of a sacrificial entry fragger who will be traded or a support player throwing utility from the back.

HLTV MVPs

HLTV awards an MVP medal at notable events, which is given to the player they consider had the most impact in the tournament. Starting in 2016, players who win an MVP award are provided a physical medal which are either gold, silver or bronze depending on the significance of the event which it was awarded.[21]

HLTV Top 20 players

Each year, the HLTV staff rank professional Counter-Strike players based on their performance, and write an article explaining their choice. These rankings are based on how successful the player's team is, the individual performance based on the HLTV Rating 1.0 and Rating 2.0, and MVP/EVP awards given by HLTV. They have ranked both Counter-Strike and Global Offensive players. 2012 was excluded due to it being a transition year between Counter-Strike and Counter-Strike: Source to Global Offensive.[22]

2010

  • 1. Yegor "markeloff" Markelov
  • 2. Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund
  • 3. Martin "trace" Heldt
  • 4. Sergey "starix" Ischuk
  • 5. Ioann "Edward" Sukhariev
  • 6. Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg
  • 7. Filip "NEO" Kubski
  • 8. Danny "zonic" Sørensen
  • 9. Andreas "MODDII" Fridh
  • 10. Marucus "delpan" Larsson
  • 11. Jordan "n0thing" Gilbert
  • 12. Rasmus "Gux" Ståhl
  • 13. Christophe "SIXER" Xia
  • 14. Danny "fRoD" Montaner
  • 15. Roman "roman" Ausserdorfer
  • 16. Johan "face" Klasson
  • 17. Bum-Ki "peri" Jung
  • 18. Richard "Xizt" Landström
  • 19. Danylo "Zeus" Teslenko
  • 20. Harley "dsn" Örwall

[23]

2011

  • 1. Filip "NEO" Kubski
  • 2. Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund
  • 3. Yegor "markeloff" Markelov
  • 4. Martin "trace" Heldt
  • 5. Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg
  • 6. Wiktor "TaZ" Wojtas
  • 7. Michael "Friis" Jørgensen
  • 8. Finn "karrigan" Andersen
  • 9. Marcus "delpan" Larsson
  • 10. Rasmus "Gux" Ståhl
  • 11. Karl-William "kalle" Haraldsen
  • 12. Eduard "ed1k" Ivanov
  • 13. Richard "Xizt" Landström
  • 14. Johan "face" Klasson
  • 15. Ioann "Edward" Sukhariev
  • 16. Andreas "MODDII" Fridh
  • 17. Timi "aslak" Verkkoperä
  • 18. Jarosław "pashaBiceps" Jarząbkowski
  • 19. Mihail "Dosia" Stolyarov
  • 20. Sergey "starix" Ischuk

[24]

2013

  • 1. Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund
  • 2. Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg
  • 3. Richard "shox" Papillon
  • 4. Mihail "Dosia" Stolyarov
  • 5. Nathan "NBK-" Schmitt
  • 6. Richard "Xizt" Landström
  • 7. Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom
  • 8. Jesper "JW" Wecksell
  • 9. Spencer "Hiko" Martin
  • 10. Ladislav "GuardiaN" Kovács
  • 11. Adam "friberg" Friberg
  • 12. Kenny "kennyS" Schrub
  • 13. Robin "flusha" Rönnquist
  • 14. Nicolaj "Nico" Jensen
  • 15. Yegor "markeloff" Markelov
  • 16. Ioann "Edward" Sukhariev
  • 17. Eduoard "SmithZz" Dubourdeaux
  • 18. Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen
  • 19. Jarosław "pashaBiceps" Jarząbkowski
  • 20. Andreas "Xyp9x" Højsleth

[22]

2014

  • 1. Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund
  • 2. Robin "flusha" Rönnquist
  • 3. Jarosław "pashaBiceps" Jarząbkowski
  • 4. Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski
  • 5. Jesper "JW" Wecksell
  • 6. Kenny "kennyS" Schrub
  • 7. Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg
  • 8. Richard "shox" Papillon
  • 9. Freddy "KRIMZ" Johansson
  • 10. Vincent "Happy" Cervoni
  • 11. Ladislav "GuardiaN" Kovács
  • 12. Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer
  • 13. Paweł "byali" Bieliński
  • 14. Adam "friberg" Friberg
  • 15. Dan "apEX" Madesclaire
  • 16. Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen
  • 17. Nathan "NBK-" Schmitt
  • 18. Braxton "swag" Pierce
  • 19. Fabien "KioShiMa" Fiey
  • 20. Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz

[25]

2015

  • 1. Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer
  • 2. Ladislav "GuardiaN" Kovács
  • 3. Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz
  • 4. Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski
  • 5. Robin "flusha" Rönnquist
  • 6. Kenny "kennyS" Schrub
  • 7. Freddy "KRIMZ" Johansson
  • 8. Vincent "Happy" Schopenhauer
  • 9. Nathan "NBK-" Schmitt
  • 10. Jesper "JW" Wecksell
  • 11. Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund
  • 12. Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen
  • 13. Richard "shox" Papillon
  • 14. Egor "flamie" Vasilyev
  • 15. René "cajunb" Borg
  • 16. Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg
  • 17. Filip "NEO" Kubski
  • 18. Dan "apEX" Madesclaire
  • 19. Aleksi "allu" Jalli
  • 20. Tyler "Skadoodle" Latham

[26]

2016

  • 1. Marcelo "coldzera" David
  • 2. Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo
  • 3. Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz
  • 4. Aleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev
  • 5. Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski
  • 6. Richard "shox" Papillon
  • 7. Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg
  • 8. Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer
  • 9. Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom
  • 10. Robin "flusha" Rönnquist
  • 11. Nikola "NiKo" Kovač
  • 12. Egor "flamie" Vasilyev
  • 13. Kenny "kennyS" Schrub
  • 14. Emil "Magisk" Reif
  • 15. Fernando "fer" Alvarenga
  • 16. Markus "Kjaerbye" Kjærbye
  • 17. Ladislav "GuardiaN" Kovács
  • 18. Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund
  • 19. Lincoln "fnx" Lau
  • 20. Dennis "dennis" Edman

[27]

2017

  • 1. Marcelo "coldzera" David
  • 2. Nikola "NiKo" Kovač
  • 3. Fernando "fer" Alvarenga
  • 4. Håvard "rain" Nygaard
  • 5. Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz
  • 6. Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo
  • 7. Kenny "kennyS" Schrub
  • 8. Aleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev
  • 9. Ladislav "GuardiaN" Kovács
  • 10. Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen
  • 11. Abay "HObbit" Khasenov
  • 12. Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski
  • 13. Andreas "Xyp9x" Højsleth
  • 14. Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke
  • 15. Markus "Kjaerbye" Kjærbye
  • 16. Tomáš "oskar" Šťastný
  • 17. Dauren "AdreN" Kystaubayev
  • 18. Ricardo "boltz" Prass
  • 19. Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer
  • 20. Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski

[28]

2018

  • 1. Aleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev
  • 2. Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz
  • 3. Nikola "NiKo" Kovač
  • 4. Denis "electronic" Sharipov
  • 5. Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen
  • 6. Keith "NAF" Markovic
  • 7. Emil "Magisk" Reif
  • 8. Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander
  • 9. Freddy "KRIMZ" Johansson
  • 10. Marcelo "coldzera" David
  • 11. Ladislav "GuardiaN" Kovács
  • 12. Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken
  • 13. Andreas "Xyp9x" Højsleth
  • 14. Tomáš "oskar" Štastný
  • 15. Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski
  • 16. Miika "suNny" Kemppi
  • 17. Timothy "autimatic" Ta
  • 18. Håvard "rain" Nygaard
  • 19. Robin "ropz" Kool
  • 20. Valdemar "valde" Bjørn Vangså

[29]

2019

  • 1. Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut
  • 2. Aleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev
  • 3. Nicolai "device" Reedtz
  • 4. Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski
  • 5. Emil "Magisk" Reif
  • 6. Denis "electronic" Sharipov
  • 7. Keith "NAF" Markovic
  • 8. Vincent "Brehze" Cayonte
  • 9. Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken
  • 10. Robin "ropz" Kool
  • 11. Nikola "NiKo" Kovac
  • 12. Özgür "woxic" Eker
  • 13. Jere "sergej" Salo
  • 14. Andreas "Xyp9x" Højslet
  • 15. Justin "jks" Savage
  • 16. Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen
  • 17. Freddy "KRIMZ" Johansson
  • 18. Tsvetelin "CeRq" Dimitrov
  • 19. Ludvig "Brollan" Brolin
  • 20. Ethan "Ethan" Arnold

[30]

2020

  • 1. Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut
  • 2. Aleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev
  • 3. Nicolai "device" Reedtz
  • 4. Nikola "NiKo" Kovač
  • 5. Denis "electronic" Sharipov
  • 6. Benjamin "blameF" Bremer
  • 7. Robin "ropz" Kool
  • 8. Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski
  • 9. Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen
  • 10. Florian "⁠syrsoN⁠" Rische
  • 11. Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif
  • 12. Martin "⁠stavn⁠" Lund
  • 13. Nemanja "huNter-" Kovač
  • 14. Yuri "⁠yuurih⁠" Santos
  • 15. Ludvig "Brollan" Brolin
  • 16. Henrique "⁠HEN1⁠" Teles
  • 17. Freddy "KRIMZ" Johansson
  • 18. Kaike "⁠KSCERATO⁠" Cerato
  • 19. Justin "⁠jks⁠" Savage
  • 20. Vincent ⁠"Brehze⁠" Cayonte

[31]

2021

  • 1. Aleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev
  • 2. Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut
  • 3. Nikola "NiKo" Kovač
  • 4. Dmitriy "sh1ro" Sokolov
  • 5. Sergey "Ax1Le" Rykhtorov
  • 6. Abai "HObbit" Hasenov
  • 7. Denis "electroNic" Sharipov
  • 8. Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis
  • 9. Valeriy "b1t" Vakhovskiy
  • 10. Dzhami "Jame" Ali
  • 11. Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz
  • 12. Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač
  • 13. Benjamin "blameF" Bremer
  • 14. Keith "NAF" Markovic
  • 15. Kaike "KSCERATO" Cerato
  • 16. Martin "stavn" Lund
  • 17. Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken
  • 18. Robin "ropz" Kool
  • 19. Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski
  • 20. Helvijs "broky" Saukants

[32]

2022

  • 1. Aleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev
  • 2. Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut
  • 3. Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov
  • 4. Sergey "⁠Ax1Le⁠" Rykhtorov
  • 5. Nikola "⁠NiKo" Kovač
  • 6. Helvijs "broky" Saukants
  • 7. Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov
  • 8. Robin "ropz" Kool
  • 9. Kaike "⁠KSCERATO⁠" Cerato
  • 10. Martin "⁠stavn⁠" Lund
  • 11. Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken
  • 12. Benjamin "⁠blameF⁠" Bremer
  • 13. Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard
  • 14. Nemanja "huNter-" Kovač
  • 15. Mareks "⁠YEKINDAR⁠" Gaļinskis
  • 16. Valeriy "b1t" Vakhovskiy
  • 17. David "frozen" Čerňanský
  • 18. Lotan "Spinx" Giladi
  • 19. Yuri "yuurih" Santos
  • 20. Dzhami "Jame" Ali

[33]

2023

  • 1. Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut
  • 2. Nikola "NiKo" Kovač
  • 3. Robin "ropz" Kool
  • 4. Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov
  • 5. Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi
  • 6. Álvaro "⁠SunPayus⁠" García
  • 7. Aleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev
  • 8. Dmitry "sh1ro" Sokolov
  • 9. Martin "stavn" Lund
  • 10. Helvijs "broky" Saukants
  • 11. Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz
  • 12. David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský
  • 13. Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač
  • 14. Guy "NertZ" Iluz
  • 15. Jakob "jabbi" Nygaard
  • 16. Benjamin "blameF" Bremer
  • 17. Emil "Magisk" Reif
  • 18. Casper "cadiaN" Møller
  • 19. Kaike "⁠KSCERATO⁠" Cerato
  • 20. Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken

[34]

References

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  2. ^ Nymark, Jens (9 October 2015). "Millioner følger dansk computerspils-guldfugl". Nyheder (in Danish). Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  3. ^ "Better Collective acquires CS:GO Platform HLTV". March 2, 2020.
  4. ^ "Dansk nyhedssite for Counter-Strike-fans er klodens største". Incuba (in Danish). Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  5. ^ Martin, Rosenbæk. "HLTV Martin". Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  6. ^ Christiansen, Jesper (9 October 2015). "Danske Martin og Per fik en genial idé: Nu følger millioner de to guldfugles 'hobby'-projekt". B.T. (in Danish). Retrieved 10 September 2019.
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  9. ^ Vejvad, Christian. "Fem danske Counter Strike hold på HLTV top 30!". GDK (in Danish). Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  10. ^ "Dust2.dk" (in Danish). Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  11. ^ Lambæk, Per "Nomad". "This Is Not Even My Final Form". Archived from the original on 2 December 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  12. ^ "Release Notes for 5/14/2019". Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  13. ^ Mira, Luis "MIRAA". "A New Beginning For HLTV". Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  14. ^ "HLTV.org joins Better Collective". HLTV.org.
  15. ^ "HLTV has been acquired by Better Collective". March 1, 2020.
  16. ^ Chiu, Stephen. "Breaking Down Criteria CS:GO Edition, Rating KRIMZ and GuardiaN". VPEsports. Archived from the original on 13 February 2021. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  17. ^ Villanueva, Jamie (28 December 2018). "The Best CS:GO Players of 2018". Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  18. ^ a b Milanovic, Petar "Tgwr1is". "What is That Rating Thing in Stats?". Retrieved 19 March 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ a b Sardegna, Christopher. "Exploring Problems with Counter-Strike Rating Systems". Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  20. ^ "Top 20 players of 2021: Introduction". HLTV.org. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
  21. ^ Professeur (April 11, 2022). "20 years of HLTV.org". Retrieved August 9, 2022.
  22. ^ a b Milanovic, Petar "Tgwr1s". "Top 20 Players of 2013: Ranking". Retrieved 18 March 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  23. ^ Milanovic, Petar "Tgwri1s". "Top 20 Players of 2010: Introduction". Retrieved 18 March 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  24. ^ Milanovic, Petar "Tgwri1s". "Top 20 Players of 2011: Introduction". Retrieved 18 March 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  25. ^ Milanovic, Petar "Tgwri1s". "Top 20 Players of 2014: Introduction". Retrieved 19 March 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  26. ^ Milanovic, Petar "Tgwri1s". "Top 20 Players of 2015: Introduction". Retrieved 19 March 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  27. ^ Milanovic, Petar "Tgwr1s". "Top 20 Players of 2016: Introduction". Retrieved 19 March 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  28. ^ Milanovic, Petar "Tgwr1s". "Top 20 Players of 2017: Introduction". Retrieved 19 March 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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  30. ^ Švejda, Milan "Striker". "Top 20 players of 2019: Introduction". Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  31. ^ Švejda, Milan "Striker". "Top 20 players of 2020: Introduction". Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  32. ^ Švejda, Milan "Striker". "Top 20 players of 2021: Introduction". Retrieved 4 January 2022.
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  34. ^ "Top 20 Players of 2023: Introduction". Retrieved 28 December 2023.