Counter Strike 1.6 officially dead as ESEA shuts down last server

The partnership between ESEA and Counter Strike 1.6 which has lasted 14 years, finally comes to an end

Counter Strike certainly has left its mark on most of the early millennials. Before the days of PS4's and Xbox's, we all relied on games such as Age of Empires and Counter Strike to save our day.

While Age of Empires is set for a 4K reboot, Age of Empires: Definitive Edition, Counter Strike is going down memory lane as E-Sports Entertainment Association League (ESEA) announced that the partnership between ESEA and Counter Strike 1.6, which has lasted for 14 years, has finally come to an end as the servers for Counter Strike 1.6’s last servers have officially been shut down.

“In 2014 we officially shut down all CS:S servers, and today we do the same for Counter-Strike 1.6,” read a statement on ESEA’s official website.



“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 e-sports legends that many of us still look up to today. It ultimately is what allowed ESEA to be what it is today. “

Back in 2003, when ESEA was founded, the only game it supported was Counter-Strike 1.6.

Today we salute the end of an era...

CS 1.6 Servers on ESEA have officially shut down.

Read more: https://t.co/QWO4OdQAa0 pic.twitter.com/TNoyGk1si0

— ESEA (@ESEA) July 12, 2017

Over time, ESEA moved into the e-sports market, and created one of the first ever professional fantasy e-sports leagues in 2004, with Counter Strike.



ESEA made the franchise better by implementing anti-cheat engines to prevent hackers from playing the game along with introducing additional features including a system which allowed players of all levels to compete with each other, making the entire CS 1.6 experience better and more competitive.



This doesn’t necessarily mean ESEA is done with the Counter-Strike franchise as the E-Sports Association is still going strong with the latest title in the CS franchise, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.