The prospect of Counter-Strike 2 (opens in new tab) has lots of people enjoying CS:GO (opens in new tab), with a brand new all-time peak participant document of 1,519,457 being set right this moment. That is a quantity reported by each SteamDB (opens in new tab) and Steamcharts (opens in new tab), and it is wildly greater than CS:GO’s prior excessive water marks. CS:GO’s earlier excessive level was in April 2020, when pandemic lockdowns internationally noticed many video games—and Steam itself—report document participant numbers.
That is as a result of Counter-Strike 2 was introduced this week. It is an actual sport, it is free, and all the pieces in it carries over (opens in new tab) from Counter-Strike: World Offensive. Everybody’s fancy skins are going to Supply Engine 2 land. Sure, even that one individual’s $150,000 gun pores and skin (opens in new tab). It has despatched the CS pores and skin market straight to crazytown (opens in new tab).
Right now’s document beats the prior depend by over 200,000 gamers. The rationale? Effectively, well-liked idea says that it is as a result of Counter-Strike 2 beta entry is simply going to individuals who play a number of Counter-Strike. (And no cheaters or jerks are getting in (opens in new tab), which is hysterical.) That, or it is simply a number of former or lapsed gamers getting nostalgic about Counter-Strike and eager to expertise it at its peak earlier than CS2 hits and steals away the participant depend.
Counter-Strike: World Offensive has been on the rise since launch, hardly ever falling over the course of a single 12 months exterior of an prolonged nadir in 2018. Even that low level, nonetheless, was nonetheless netting over 400,000 day by day gamers. Late 2018 noticed the discharge of the free model of CS:GO, and the common year-over-year has stabilized at one thing like 1,000,000 gamers since.
The response to Counter-Strike 2 has been just about what you’d anticipate from a formidable, interesting-looking replace to a staple shooter for each informal and esports gamers: Nearly universally constructive (opens in new tab). Resident Counter-Strike head Wealthy Stanton stated that Valve could effectively have created his dream sport, dumping a laundry checklist of enhancements (opens in new tab) he’d observed onto the location.
Oh, and for these of you fearful that CS2 will steal all of the CS:GO gamers away? In all probability not. Individuals nonetheless play CS 1.6, in any case.
