The comp figureheads at the time could have chosen between NR6's, 6's, and HL as the competitive format we recommended to Valve back after the hype peaked around i61-63 iirc. Apparently, HL was the first recommendation, but Valve rejected it because 18 people on a stage for one game is just too much. So, NR6's was chosen instead because there was this hope to bridge the gap between casual and comp communities. It's clear now that this was a mistake... We could have had a matchmaking update that had a weapons banlist, character limits, and comp-only maps. :(
At the same time, they started earning a ton from Steam and were already prioritizing VR, so I'm assuming their top developers were moved around, so the matchmaking system ended up even more baked than we could've imagined lol.
Bring back the double Natascha heavies that killed our potential as an eSport?