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How Does Prime Work in CS:GO?

Have you ever wondered how Prime matchmaking works? In the following article, I am going to explain everything that... Radu M. | 31. January 2022

Have you ever wondered how Prime matchmaking works? In the following article, I am going to explain everything that you need to know about Prime status, and if it is worth buying.

What is Prime status?

Prime was present in the game since April 2016, and it was implemented as a way to get rid of bots that were ruining other players’ games, by using boosting platforms and cheats. Because CS:GO was in its early stages of building an anti-cheat, cheaters were all over the place. When you reached level 21 on your account, you would’ve had received the Prime status Upgrade badge, which is the pass for prime.

Today, because the game is free to play, the Prime status can not be achieved by leveling up, as your level and matchmaking rank are locked. When you are playing the free-to-play version of CS:GO, you’re playing a lite version, without any way to reach any level or rank. Besides those downsides, there are going to be a lot of cheaters in the free version of CS:GO.

How much does Prime cost, and where can you buy it?

The prime upgrade does currently cost 14€ and can be bought from the Store section, in the game main menu. You will need to add funds to your steam account or link a valid credit card to complete the purchase. After that, you will receive the badge in your inventory, and you are ready to begin your CS:GO Career.

What are the upsides of Prime?

The main point of buying Prime is to get rid of cheaters in your game. Of course, people are still going to be cheating in Prime, but it’s not going to be as frequent as non-Prime. You will get queued with better players, as people that paid for the game tend to be more interested. As you get to higher levels and higher ranks, you will get matched against better players.

Besides that, CS:GO has a very bad thought ranking system. You can’t see when you are going to rank up, as your MMR is hidden. Trust factor and MMR are going to be the leading factors for the teammates you are going to have in your team. If you have been losing matches for some time, you may get queued up with worse players, or if you have been trolling and got reported a lot of times, you may get queued up with trollers, toxic people, etc.

Should you buy prime right now?

If you intend to play the game seriously, I recommend you buy the Prime status, as it is going to be a big upgrade in your gaming experience. You will notice that the overall experience is going to be way better without as many cheaters and trollers. In the end, you should try to get the best you can at the game, before buying prime, so you could get the highest rank you can. In CS:GO, if you are not the best in that rank, it will be really hard to rank up. Boosters are also a big problem in low-ranks like Silver or Gold Nova.

 

Photo credit: IEM|Stephanie-Lindgren