Counter-Strike is a truly marvelous game. Some of us were only five or ten years old when it was launched. Others were not even born back then.
In 1999, the monstrous title that would be played by tens of millions of people, was merely a Half-Life mod. Later, this mod was turned into a stand-alone title. The developers who had the idea to improve upon Half-Life, an already brilliant game at the time, probably had no idea that they had struck gold.
But as the years went by and Counter-Strike became adopted by large numbers of FPS fans from around the world, it became obvious that Valve would eventually turn it into one of its most successful projects.
More than two decades later, we now have CS2, which had a rough start because of its numerous bugs but is now in much better condition. This game’s esports scene features dozens of big events each year, with prize pools ranging from $250.000 to $1+ million.
The game’s player base is around 20 million and growing. The peak was reached in May 2023, near the end of the CS:GO era. For that month, the average number of players was 1.12 million and the number of peak players was 1.8 million.
Nowadays, the average players number is somewhere around 877.000, while the peak is 1.4 million.
CS2 Is Here To Stay
Happy 25th birthday to the greatest video game ever made, Counter-Strike.
A Half-Life mod which has spawned communities, created memories, and established the greatest esport of them all. We’re grateful to have the most passionate players in gaming.
Here’s to 25 more! 🎂🎉
— CS2 (@CounterStrike) June 19, 2024
Despite the fluctuations, CS2 is one of the healthiest esports we have ever seen. Even highly successful titles, such as StarCraft 2, had their glory years and then almost disappeared. But Counter-Strike has endured for 25 years, becoming one of the most famous FPS games in history. There’s hardly any gamer out there who hasn’t heard of CS.
Not everyone has played it because there are 3 billion gamers on this planet and it’s hard to believe that more than a few hundred million gave it a try.
Like other Valve games, such as Dota 2, CS2 grows almost exclusively by word-of-mouth. Esports tournaments also help because they’re typically watched by more than a million people. Last but not least, the fact that Valve owns the Steam platform is a huge benefit.
Whoever has a Steam account will discover CS2 sooner or later. The fact that you can try it for free makes it even easier to give it a shot. There have been plenty of potential competitors that could have killed Counter-Strike, but by now it’s obvious that they have failed. This game will likely be around for a long time to come.
Header: Valve
