Counter-Strike 2 Prospects (opens in new tab) Many people play CS:GO (opens in new tab), a new all-time player record of 1,519,457 was set today.That’s the number reported by both SteamDB (opens in new tab) and steam diagram (opens in new tab), significantly higher than CS:GO’s previous high water mark. CS:GO’s previous high point was April 2020, when the world went into pandemic lockdown, with many games (and Steam itself) reporting record player numbers.
That’s because Counter-Strike 2 was announced this week.It’s a real game, it’s free and everything in it carries over (opens in new tab) From Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Everyone’s fancy skins are sent to Source Engine 2 land.Yes, even that one $150,000 gunskin (opens in new tab)Sent CS Skin Marketplace directly to Crazy Town (opens in new tab).
Today’s record surpasses the previous record by more than 200,000. reason? A popular theory is that Counter-Strike 2 beta access is only given to people who play Counter-Strike a lot. (And no scammers or jerk in (opens in new tab), which is hysterical. ) That, or just how many former or lapsed players are getting nostalgic for Counter-Strike and wanting to experience it at its peak before CS2 hits and takes player numbers.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has been on the rise since launch, rarely declining over the course of a year except at its lowest point in 2018. CS:GO’s free version was released in late 2018, and since then, year-over-year average player count has stabilized at around his million.
The reaction to Counter-Strike 2 has been pretty much what casual and esports players alike would expect from a striking and interesting-looking update to the staple shooter. (opens in new tab)Resident Counter-Strike head Rich Stanton dumped a laundry list of improvements, saying Valve likely created his dream game. (opens in new tab) he noticed the site.
Oh, and for those worried that CS2 will steal all CS:GO players. Probably not. After all, people are still playing CS 1.6.
