They did say it was in its infant stage.
I sure hope so, because...
CS:GO players would be interested because of how fast reflexes they have.
Well, how long will you keep playing the same map alone? Yes, exactly.
The concept is very good and appealing to skill based players though.
Agreed. But considering the EU playerbase it's a mistake.
Why?
EU in general is not player-skill based at all (or pretty close to zero).
Making an instance inside EU that's a direct opposite is one step too far. You'll never have enough of the required type of players inside EU. For this purely "demographic" reason your mini game will always suffer a niche status. Niche inside the opposite kind of niche, that's one hell of a filter!
Soo... Want a recipe that works?
Avoid going to extremes, aim closer to the overall type of player. It's not like you can only do
player-skill-based and
no-player-skill-required. You can also have a carefully weighed mix.
And I don't mean replace player skill with stupid purely mechanical randomness like evaded shots and lucky crits. No, I mean stuff like using the landscape, figuring out what's the safest route between dynamically changing spawns (and other dynamic obstacles). The first "layer" then becomes finding a tactical solution--you never have enough info and you have to make a decision fast so it's highly likely you'll make a wrong decision (and then you have to go with it and fight it off anyway). Also, there will be risky and quick routes vs safe long way around, stuff like that. Decisions, decisions... not just the mechanical aim-and-shoot all the way. Everyone's equal, everyone has the same gear but the more experience you have the better you'll become... so there's a very real sense of improvement and progress even if you don't get in-game skills. (Although, I don't see why not, you should be able to gain some skills also--proportional to the cost of play).
Anyway, so you'll start with making the tactical plan and the FPS action then becomes the implementation of this plan. The environment is dynamic, the situation keeps changing and so you keep coming back to the tactical level. How will I handle this problem, I need a new plan--and then again you go back to FPS. Keeps it fresh and entertaining. There's many ways to do that but
I think that's the general direction one should look for a solution.
Well, at least half the solution...
There is no team work involved
... and here's the another half. Currently there's no team work involved (yet? hopefully?).
Teamwork is not a classical player-skill, but it's definitely not "no player skill required" either. It's, again, a middle ground that makes a good mix for all types of players. If you manage to get the environment and game rules right (which is actually the hardest part and requires a real talent!), it'll be loads of fun that lasts for years and years (as opposed to: dry up a week after release).
To finish on a positive note:
They did say it was in its infant stage.