Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, or ‘CS:GO‘ as it’s better known, is still smashing concurrent player records more than a decade after release.
According to SteamDB, CS:GO hit an all-time peak of 1,519,457 players on Sunday (thanks, Eurogamer). Yes, more than 1.5 people were online and playing a decade-old shooter simultaneously – which is quite impressive since numbers are so rare. Only PUBG Battlegrounds, which peaked at 3,257,248 concurrent players five years ago, holds a higher record.
Keep in mind that CS:GO came out on August 21, 2012 – nearly 11 years ago by now. The franchise has always been a behemoth, particularly in esports, but it’s almost unprecedented for a game this old to garner these sorts of concurrent player numbers.
This surge in CS:GO‘s player count is undoubtedly the result of Counter-Strike 2‘s sudden announcement. The long-awaited sequel will implement better graphics and loads of quality-of-life improvements while also addressing CS:GO‘s less-than-stellar network tik rate and anti-cheat systems. Valve is still keeping a lot of that information close to the chest, though if you’re one of the select few to get a Counter-Strike 2 beta key, then you’ve probably already noticed the changes.
By most accounts, CS:GO is the most challenging FPS out there – so our tips and tricks might be worth giving a once-over.
Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.