hltv.org

Valve's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive holds its own against the best titles. It debuted six years ago and is still one of the best games backed by a strong heritage of multiplayer titles. Such is the popularity of this game that it has dedicated communities across the internet, such as HLTV.com. There you can find the best CS:GO tournaments and stay up-to-date with every CS:GO news covering teams and events across the world.

HTLTV and CS:GO relevancy

Since its inception in 2007, HLTV.org has been a platform that celebrates the best of competitive Counter Strike. The site's active community, focus on core gameplay, and overall popularity make it a top choice for spectators and players alike. However, with the rise of more thematically rich games such as Overwatch in the last 6 years, CS:GO has fallen behind. While it is still highly competitive and provides a no-frills experience, Overwatch has surpassed CS:GO in terms of popularity and player engagement.

CS:GO - A prominent title on streaming platforms

Hltv.org has a large traffic majority because of the prominence of CS in gaming not just streaming platforms but also throughout the entire gaming community. A major chunk of Mixer?s and Twitch?s audience consists of CS:GO communities. The game has been able to influence many players’ lives and make the entire gaming niche competitive. Thus, it is no surprise that internet has many dedicated websites that feature pure CS:GO content.

What is HLTV?

HLTV is the world's most popular CS:GO news website. It keeps you up to date on what's happening in the world of CS by providing you quick access to results and live scores, as well as allowing you to subscribe to your favorite matches and get notification about the same. In addition, you can watch the latest news, view tournament standings, and check out matches and results as per your own convenience. This particular review will be focusing on the website design and layout. I will not be commenting on the content since it is solely CS:GO-based. I will share my opinion about the website's design and streaming experience.

Design

First of all, the homepage has a lot of information crammed in and it can be difficult to find what you are looking for. However, if you scroll down you will find various categories like Live Streams, Highlights, Interviews, Demos and so on. Each individual section has its own tab which makes it easier to navigate. For a first-time visitor to HLTV.org, browsing around the website can be cumbersome. The whole website looks haphazard with a lot of stuff happening all across your screen. However, after a few minutes you will get used to the interface and appreciate the content that is available. Aesthetically, HLTV.org isn't the best streaming website but with content as its main focus, there are few expectations. There are more than a couple of main sections on the website and we will discuss them one after the other. First of all, the homepage has a lot of information crammed in and can be difficult to find what you are looking for. However, if you scroll down you will find various categories like Live Streams, Highlights, Interviews, Demos and so on. Each individual section has its own tab which makes it easier to navigate.

Header

Right off the bat, the header section has a link to important resources. There are nine main options- CS:GO News, Matches, Results, Events, Stats, Galleries, Forums, Bets and Live. Each of these options has an inner page that highlights the particular category. Aside from the healthy menu, there are plenty of other links which provide you with detailed information about what's there on the website.

CS:GO News

Let's discuss the main categories starting with CS:GO News. This section is divided based on time, so you can easily access pages and browse efficiently. On the right side, you can find ongoing or upcoming matches. If you click on any of the fixtures, you will land on a separate page which contains detailed information about the match. This includes the date of the match, maps, teams, gaming journals, statistics, rosters, and key player. Apart from that, you can also place a bet on a particular team that you like.

Matches

Matches have their own page which is divided into three sections - left, right and middle. The left block contains Special match of the week, events, filters for match search, the status of a match, teams/participants and type. The right block displays the latest matches and the results by clicking on the ?latest activity? option. The middle block contains options such as live matches - Being streamed live & upcoming matches - future schedule.

Results

On the results page, you can see three sections - the left block has a time filter, the middle block has results of matches in the past five days along with detailed statistics and recommends results, and finally the right block has recent activities.

Events

The events page is one of the busiest pages on the website, where you can filter an event using a prize pool. You can find current events and upcoming events along with other details such as Dates, Venue, Teams, Duration and Price Pool on this page. You can even get details about each participating team.

Stats

The stats page on the HLTV website is divided into a left column and other columns. The Best Players, Firepower-Teamwork-Utility (FTU), Top Events, Flashes and Pistol Rounds column is very important because it has navigation, maps, and other filter options.

Gallery

Gallery has a dedicated page that is filled with images and video albums of events. When you open the page, you can view data and the ability to browse via tournament, dates, season, prize pool, venue, and more.

Forums

This is a strength of the HLTV network - the community engages with fellow users on forums, and management can also start discussions by asking questions to the HLTV admin department. In addition, you can provide advice to management and recommend improvements.

Bets

You can find odds on the nearest matches from 16 leading bookmaker companies on the Bets page. The highlighted bets depict safe bets which are marked blue in color.

Live

The live section on this website is the lively one. You can access a plethora of live streams without any advertisements. You can watch replays and stream without any discrepancies. You can chat with the streamers and viewers and see every player's money, deaths, kills, and score by maps here.

Streaming Quality & Compatibility

The website's lack of visual appeal does not affect the quality of its streaming experience; there is a lot of information throughout the website which has no effect on the stream. I was disappointed that the quality was simply phenomenal, despite the website's lack of visual appeal.

Desktop/Mobile experience

The website is quick. Sure, it's not the best when it comes to aesthetics but the overall user experience is more than satisfactory. Even when you access it from mobile, the website is as responsive as your desktop. It fits with all mobile screen resolutions and looks great on any device. Sure, there are some advertisements here and there but they don't take anything away from the overall streaming experience.

I would advise you to be patient when streaming this website. There is a lot of data on there and it may take some time to browse the pages, check individual pages one after the other, or else you will become overwhelmed.

Plans & Pricing

HLTV.org is a free streaming website that provides information on the latest news and events in the world of CS:GO on a professional level. If you're interested in playing CS:GO yourself, you can either buy the free edition on Steam for offline play or can spend $14.99 for full access.

Suggestions I have for HLTV

Hltv undoubtedly is a massive platform, however, the UI looks very basic. I think by adding a few amazing developers, you can update the website and app, which could possibly draw more users and keep them glued on to Hltv. Now if this was the 2010s, I wouldn't be complaining but in present times, such dull layouts rub the visitors the wrong way.

Conclusion

HLTV is an amazing website that provides users with up-to-date information about Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. If you are as crazy about this game as I am, you will visit this website every day. I'm not a full-fledged gamer, but I do like to watch top players play against each other and CS being the legendary title that it is, HLTV becomes a great source of entertainment at no cost.