After a long ten-year run, CSGO is getting replaced by Counter-Strike 2 and will continue the legacy of the first-person shooter. While the replacement might seem bittersweet for some, the new title has topped the charts of Steam in terms of active players and is already aiming for a successful kickoff.
Counter-Strike 2 is a refreshed version of Valve’s iconic shooter which uses the Source 2 engine at its core. While the game seems brand new, it still remains the same in terms of map layout with major changes to certain mechanics.
Naturally, change is not often accepted at once, but that norm has been broken by the refreshed version of the shooter. With that said, here’s a detailed look at the major milestone reached by Valve.
Counter-Strike 2 reaches almost two million active players at launch
Counter-Strike 2 replaced CSGO on September 27, 2023, and marked a new era for the shooter. Due to this replacement, all the seasoned players who used to play CSGO directly transferred over to the updated version. Moreover, the hype for the shooter also helped sell it like hotcakes at launch. Besides, the already huge player base of CSGO also helped with the massive success as well.
Thank you to the Counter-Strike community for helping shape the start of Counter-Strike 2.
Through playing the Limited Test, sending us feedback, small playtests (Team North and Team South), and communicating with us in different ways, you’ve helped get CS2 off to a great…
— CS2 (@CounterStrike) September 27, 2023
Counter-Strike 2
According to SteamDB, CS2 had an all-time peak of 1,818,773 players on the first day it launched. However, it didn’t break the all-time peak of PUBG which is marked at close to 3.2 million. Nonetheless, Valve’s shooter is still holding approximately 1.2 million players consistently and proving to be a massive success.
The reason why so many players are currently playing Counter-Strike 2 is because it is free-to-play. This makes it accessible to people around the globe and has contributed significantly to its popularity. Even though there are plenty of free-to-play games available on Steam, none could match the popularity of CS2 as of yet.
