Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) is one of the most popular multiplayer first-person shooter games. With a thriving esports scene, there are many exciting professional matches played regularly. While watching these matches live can be thrilling, sometimes you may want to watch match highlights or download full match replays to review and analyze gameplay after the fact.
Fortunately, there are a few easy methods to download and watch CS:GO match highlights and replays.
Table of Contents
Overview of Options to Watch CS:GO Matches
Here is a quick overview of some of the main options to watch CS:GO match highlights and replays:
- Tournament Organizer YouTube Channels: Many major tournaments upload highlights and replays to their official YouTube channels. This is often the easiest way to find recent high-profile match footage.
- HLTV.org: This site has an extensive demos section where you can download full match replays files to watch in-game through CS:GO’s built in replay viewer.
- r/CSeventVODs Subreddit: This subreddit compiles VODs, highlights, and replay links for various CS:GO tournaments and matches.
Downloading and Watching Full Match Replays
One of the best ways to analyze and learn from professional CS:GO matches is to download the full replay files and watch them in-game. Here is how it works:
Finding and Downloading Replays
The best site for finding and downloading full, high-quality CS:GO replay files is HLTV.org.
- Navigate to the match page of the game you want to download.
- Scroll down to the bottom of the page to the Downloads section.
- Click the GotV Demo link to download the full replay file.
The files are typically 50-150MB in size and may take a few minutes to fully download depending on your internet speed.
Watching Replays In-Game
Once downloaded, you can watch a replay file using CS:GO’s built-in replay viewer:
- Launch CS:GO on your PC.
- Click Watch from the main menu.
- Select the Your Matches tab.
- Click Import and navigate to the replay file you downloaded.
- Double click the match to start watching.
This will load up an offline replay of the full match from start to finish, allowing you to freely spectate and switch between different player perspectives. You can control playback speed, pause and rewind, view the map from different angles, and more.
Finding and Watching CS:GO Match Highlights
If you don’t have time to watch full replays, watching short match highlights is a great way to catch all the most exciting moments from a CS:GO game. Here are some recommendations:
Tournament Organizer YouTube Channels
Most major CS:GO leagues and tournaments have official YouTube channels where they compile short highlight videos from matches in their events. Some good channels to check include:
Simply search for the match you want to see highlights from and there is likely a well-edited 3-10 minute highlight reel summing up the most important and exciting parts of the game.
r/CSeventVODs Subreddit
The r/CSeventVODs subreddit is dedicated to compiling VODs, highlights, and replay links from major CS:GO tournaments and matches.
Browse the subreddit for highlight reels from recent and past tournaments across a variety of organizers and events. The posts are conveniently flaired by tournament and spoiler-free, making it easy to find highlights from the match you want without seeing the final result ahead of time if you haven’t watched it yet.
Community Channels
There are many community CS:GO channels on YouTube that create and share highlight videos from pro matches. Some channels to check out include:
While production value and editing quality varies across community channels, you can often find highlights uploaded very quickly after matches conclude.
