CPL's former multiple CS champion and now the manager of Ninjas In Pyjamas Emil “HeatoN” Christensen has sparked a bit of a controversy in the still divided Counter-Strike community when he predicted that Global Offensive will be even bigger than the 1.6 version.

Interviewed by Rod “Slasher” Breslau in Live on Three, Christensen was quoted saying "Honestly, I think [CS:GO] will be much bigger than CS 1.6." Live on Three is a talkshow dedicated to competitive gaming.

Christensen's remark is naturally in favor of the newly resurrected Ninjas in Pyjamas, now a team exclusively for CS:GO. The new NiP is composed of two former SK-Gaming members: GeT_RiGhT and Forest, and a former member of fnatic, Xist. These three progamers are considered legends in the now diminishing 1.6 scene.

Christensen also observed that the a lot of members in the Swedish community had changed their views on Valve's latest installment of the legendary FPS franchise; especially evident when a true 1.6 champion like NiP has transitioned into a competitive team dedicated to Global Offensive.

HeatoN further stated that the international community have also changed, saying “Even on HLTV.org and those websites who have pretty immature people writing comments, it's actually getting better there, too.”

I beg to differ Mr. Christensen, but it seems the CS gaming community is still too divided about the 1.6/GO issue, as evidenced by the mostly angry responses in the comment section of HLTV.org. Negative reactions like “No it wont and you are the biggest disgrace in the whole 1.6 scene”, “I feel so ashamed cuz he was the first pro player I followed when I started” and “HeatoN is where money is, no doubt about this”.

In time, people will see that GO is the future of Counter-Strike, so goodluck to NiP in upcoming competitions!

Below is a sample of HeatoN's CS gameplay when he was still active.