How a GOTV bug and HLTV Used to Spoil Match Results

Glitches, freezes, and crashes… Unfortunately, bugs can be found in almost every video game. While some of them (like various exploits) can be useful or amusing, others can be even game-breaking.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, is not void of bugs either with some of them impacting the gaming experience of its players drastically.

In this article, we will go over the history of prominent issues in CS:GO, including the GOTV bug that would spoil match results, and look at other bugs that occurred during match streams. Aside from that, we will learn what “HLTV confirmed” actually means.

GOTV Bug

The Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in-game technology known as GOTV allows users to record, broadcast, and watch matches in action or game demos. It also offers X-Ray Vision, which is a wall-hack feature only accessible in spectator mode.

The infamous GOTV bug happened between 2013 and 2015. To prevent stream sniping, the GOTV system broadcasts live matches with a specific time delay. When you were watching a match in action, a freeze of the server would spoil the fact that the game was over in real-time.

Here’s an example of what was happening during a stream. The GOTV bug occurred during the match between Team SoloMid and Virtus.Pro at the StarLadder StarSeries Season XII. When the score was 15-13, the demo froze for a few moments. It spoiled both the imminent finish of the map as well as the outcome: Virtus.Pro won Cache with a 16-13 score.

CS:GO fans were frustrated with the GOTV bug indirectly spoiling the results of the matches. Both users of live streaming services like Twitch and those who were watching matches in-game via GOTV experienced it. Twitch streams were affected as well because GOTV was used to broadcast events.

A Reddit user, “CanT-WaiT”, noted that this bug occurred because eBot had been sending the tv_stoprecord command to the server when a match was over.

eBot is a server bot that features tools for match creation. It was widely used by tournament admins and broadcasting studios. On its GitHub repository, we can see that user IzanCSGM has brought up the issue in May, 2016.

deStrO, the eBot creator, commented that there was a problem with the demo upload function and that he was going to fix it. However, this thread has not seen updates yet, and none of the pull requests seem to concern this particular bug.

Over time, this issue seems to have disappeared though. We are not sure if someone fixed the bug or if broadcasters have discovered a workaround that allows recording and streaming matches without this issue occurring.

Whatever happened, CS:GO fans now can enjoy watching their favorite teams compete live without being interrupted by the spoiling GOTV bug.

HLTV CONFIRMED – What Does It Mean?

Before discovering what this platform is confirming all the time, and how one of the most well-known CS:GO memes was made, let’s begin with explaining what HLTV is about.

What is HLTV?

HLTV (Half-Life Television) is a CS:GO dedicated website and a community forum that covers esports news, tournaments, and statistics.

HLTV was founded in 2002. The website initially served as a repository for Counter-Strike 1.6 match recordings, but it also offered fans the simplest way to keep track of an ongoing game’s score. All you had to do was check it by going to a match page. With the release of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in 2012, HLTV also began storing GOTV demos.

This platform is also famous for compiling an annual list of the best players of the world. Here’s our article covering skin loadouts of the Top 10 CS:GO players of 2022 according to HLTV.

Origins of the ‘HLTV Confirmed’ Meme

On HLTV match pages, you can check all the information regarding the teams’ lineups, map picks, leaderboard positions, etc.

Earlier, an HLTV match page would show the score and results quicker than a match would end for everyone watching it on a live Twitch stream. To learn the outcome of a match before anybody else, users would stalk the match page on HLTV. Then, they would ruin it for others in the chat by spamming the final score and adding “HLTV Confirmed”. For example, “NAVI 16-14 HLTV CONFIRMED GG”.

Since then, it has grown into a popular meme that has been used to spoil match results. Also, to jokingly confirm both serious and silly statements about CS:GO and its esports scene. These include transfer rumors, tournament winner predictions, etc.

hltv confirmed: fnatic number one team in world pic.twitter.com/V4DVQApojV

— FNATIC (@FNATIC) April 27, 2020

Jesper “JW” Wecksell, a Swedish pro player who used to perform for FNATIC, once applied an “HLTV Confirmed” name tag to his USP | Kill Confirmed. Here’s a clip of him hitting a jumping headshot and two more headshots after with this skin. The moment happened in a match on the FACEIT platform.

In 2017, HLTV introduced the “HLTV Confirmed” podcast series. This is a podcast hosted by Chad “SPUNJ” Burchill. The host and guests of the show talk about the hottest topics in the CS:GO esports scene in every episode. Players, casters, analysts, and other notable CS:GO figures are among the featured special guests.

Even in the Reddit thread where the podcast’s release was announced, users questioned whether “HLTV Confirmed” was actually HLTV confirmed. See the pun?

Comment
byu/X6__ from discussion
inGlobalOffensive

Comment
byu/X6__ from discussion
inGlobalOffensive

Source: www.reddit.com/r/GlobalOffensive/comments/8rsxkd/introducing_hltv_confirmed/

The GOTV and HLTV issues are far from being the only ones that happened in the history of CS:GO. Sometimes, you could witness other bugs while enjoying watching official matches. Now, let’s watch a compilation of a few clips featuring some of the funny bugs that occurred during live streams.

Other CS:GO Match Live Stream Bugs

FNATIC vs Titan – FACEIT League 2015 Stage 3

In one of the rounds, the in-game character of Titan’s player shox was not having a great time.

Can’t blame it, no one likes being in a 1v5 situation! The camera collapsed with the model, which resulted in a bugged point of view.

Virtus.Pro vs Ninjas in Pyjamas – FACEIT League 2015 Stage 3

A true pro never fears a challenge, even when it comes to fighting an invisible enemy. In this clip, we can see Virtus.Pro neo shadowboxing.

NiP Friberg became invisible on the demo due to the GOTV Bug. The Swedish player was actually visible to his opponent in-game, and he ended up clutching a 1v1.

Astralis vs fnatic – MLG Columbus 2016

This clip shows how everything jumps furiously in the demo of the fnatic’s match against Astralis.

Different objects and bodies of fallen player models were “jumping” and flying across Overpass. We can’t explain what exactly happened here, but it sure is funny.

Ninjas in Pyjamas vs Team LDLC – ESL One Cologne 2014

Some CS:GO players tilt their keyboards up to a 90-degree angle. However, it turns out that apEX also tilted his camera during the match against Ninjas in Pyjamas.

This demo bugged and showed apEX’s point of view heavily tilted at an acute angle. Not the most comfortable position to play the game, but we’re not the ones to judge.

To Wrap Up!

Now you know everything about the annoying GOTV bug that used to mess up the match viewing experience, and how the ‘HLTV confirmed’ meme got so popular among the CS:GO community. We hope that you found this article useful and amusing.

Hellcase Blog is the best blog about CS:GO, HLTV confirmed. Continue exploring our blog for more exciting articles about CS:GO skins, esports news, and guides.