THE BILLION-DOLLAR GAME BUILT IN A DORM ROOM

Summary from the TLDR newsletter

Minh Le created Counter-Strike from his dorm room at Simon Fraser University, a public research school just outside Vancouver, British Columbia. The game, officially released in the fall of 2000 by Valve Corporation, spawned half a dozen sequels and an esports vertical that continues to generate billions from the sales of cosmetic weapon skins. It has influenced decades of shooters and is arguably one of the most important video games ever made. Counter-Strike's influence is vast nearly 25 years later - even Call of Duty has offered a bomb defusal mode lifted straight out of Counter-Strike.