Just like us, 'Counter-Strike' pros both love and hate 'Pokémon Go'
Amidst the Pokémon GO popularity explosion, millions of people have been catching Pokémon in their spare time (and not-so-spare time). It's a casual, easy game that pretty much anyone can play without much gaming experience, so it can be enjoyed by anyone.
Of course, with anything that gets that popular, there are people that hate it. For every positive tweet about Pokémon GO, there's a tweet about how it's over-hyped, annoying or bad.
Professional gamers are no exception when it comes to giving opinions about Pokémon GO.
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Some players see Pokémon GO as an easy way to unwind
As the ELeague Counter-Strike tournament is entering into the playoffs in Atlanta, teams are playing and practicing all the time, making sure their tactics and skills are honed enough to get them to the finals. Some players see Pokémon GO as an easy way to unwind.
"[Pokémon GO] is for relaxing," Paweł "Byali" Bieliński said, "You can't be nervous there."
The entire Australian team Renegades has Pokémon GO fever too, said Yaman "yam" Ergenekon.
"I've gotten into it," he said with a laugh. "I can't not play it when my whole team's playing it."
One of the great things about Pokémon GO is that you can put it down just as easily as you pick it up, so it doesn't end up being too much of a distraction or time sink during the tournament.
Aleksandar "kassad" Trifunović, coach of Mousesports, said one of the top players on team, Timo "Spiidi" Richter has been catching a lot ok Pokémon.
"If he's going to perform well, he can play all day," Kassad said.
Others, like Yegor "Markeloff" Markelov, are adamantly against it. When asked if he'd ever try it, he immediately said no.
"It sounds awful," Markeloff said laughing, and he hopes nobody on his team FlipSid3 Tactics is playing it either.
Some don't play it because they don't have access to it in their country. Simon "Fuks" Florysiak flew in from France as a substitute and hasn't been able to download the game.
You won't have to worry about your favorite esports athletes getting pulled away from the competition to play more Pokémon GO, it sounds like, but rest assured they're just as divided about it as you.
ELeague is owned by Turner Broadcasting, which also is an investor in Mashable.
