It’s not every day that the creator of a competitive game gives you their thoughts on the esports scene it has created, but that’s exactly what happened when Counter-Strike co-creator Minh “Gooseman” Le was asked to give some insight into the current state of CS2 esports.

In an interview with ThunderPick, Gooseman gave some very straightforward statements about Counter-Strike’s esports scene from the North American scene sorta sucking to seeing the insane salaries some players are getting these days.

The North American Counter-Strike 2 Scene Has Disappointed Gooseman

Gooseman started watching Counter-Strike esports a few years ago. Unfortunately, this means he missed some of the most iconic seasons. He noted: “I kind of regret not watching the esports scene in the early days because I only just started watching a couple of years ago, so I wasn’t around to watch FalleN in those older days.

“I wasn’t around to see the Astralis era and the time when the Swedes were really good, like NiP and Fnatic. I kind of regret not watching that and not being more involved in the esports scene back then, because I missed out on some really amazing memories.”

These days, Gooseman watches players like Danil “Donk” Kryshkovets and Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut since they are always doing things nobody else seems to be doing. When it comes to teams, he is pretty keen on Vitality. The team is “dominating,” he said. Plus, they have a good chance for potential upsets, making matches more exciting.

Watching Tier 1 teams like Vitality “push the limits” of how they strategize and use utility has been “really cool” for him to see. He explained that he never “intended” for grenades to be used how the top teams use them, but that’s something he admires and finds entertaining.

“When I watch Vitality play, I’m not good enough to recognize that what they’re doing is so much different than what a team like Spirit is doing, but for me, it just seems like they’re able to have those individuals rise to the occasion when it’s needed,” Gooseman said.

When ThunderPick brought up The MongolZ, Gooseman said he loved that they’re a team from Asia, representing the region. He added: “I’m a big fan of their play style and I like how they’re very aggressive and unpredictable. I was a bit sad when Senzu got benched but hopefully they’ll turn it around this year and we can see some better results from them.”

To be honest, it seems he basically loves watching everyone. Well, except North America. Gooseman stated that most of the teams thriving at tournaments are from South America or Europe. Meanwhile, it seems that the North American talent pool doesn’t have enough skill to keep up. He speculated that they could have turned to games like Call of Duty, leaving America’s Counter-Strike days behind.

Outside of North America, Counter-Strike does seem to be growing, despite being such an old game. ThunderPick pointed out that teams like Falcons are “throwing big money” at top players, showing the growth and success of the game and its esports scene.

“It’s nice to see,” he said. “To be honest, I’m very happy that people can really make a living out of it. That for me is the most fulfilling part, that there are communities out there that can really make a decent living and just take something out of the game that’s not just about having fun. They can really entertain people while at the same time do well financially.”