'CS:GO' Sets New All-Time Gaming Record Amid 'Counter-Strike 2' Announcement

Over a decade after its first release, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) has set an all-time high in terms of the number of players online at once. This coincides with the ongoing disclosure of details about Valve's impending sequel, Counter-Strike 2.

Due to the unprecedented player count seen today, Mar. 26, Game Rant reported that Valve's free-to-play shooter CS:GO has surpassed Amazon Games' free-to-play MMORPG Lost Ark, which debuted in February 2022 to a large audience.

New Milestone

From its origins as a simple Half-Life mod to its current status as a worldwide eSports sensation, Counter-Strike has been one of the most successful competitive first-person shooters for a very long time.

Even though CS:GO has been the last installment in the franchise for more than a decade, its popularity has increased dramatically over time. With the rise of Twitch and other streaming services, competitive gaming is now seen by far wider audience, and anybody with a computer may participate in the game thanks to its free-to-play concept and low system requirements.

These reasons, together with the announcement of Counter-Strike 2, led to an increase in CS:GO's concurrent Steam users from the previous high of about 1,350,000 set in February.

The top number of CS:GO gamers today was an incredible 1,507,212, but the number dropped to roughly half later in the day.

CS:GO reportedly surpassed Lost Ark's record of 1,324,761 concurrent players and moved into second place overall, but behind PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' (PUBG's) staggering 3,236,000 record. With Lost Ark's top player count at 94,860 and PUBG's at a still-impressive 454,795, CS:GO has utterly smashed both of those games' current player counts.

'Counter-Strike 2' Reveal

Numerous new elements of Counter-Strike 2, which will be available for free as a replacement for the old original, have already been revealed.

Even though Counter-Strike 2's aesthetics and lighting will have been much improved, the game's increased system requirements may make it inaccessible to certain players. Since this is a direct update, players with experience will not have to start over and lose all their hard-earned customizations and accomplishments from previous versions.

Smoke grenades' new volumetric smoke clouds may appear like a mere aesthetic upgrade at first, but they will show to be a useful tactical tool. The haze may be cleared away using grenades or gunfire, giving the players a chance to deal with it.

There are a plethora of additional enhancements that should make the game more responsive than ever. These include new maps and a significant increase in server tick rates. Counter-Strike 2's beta test has given a select few gamers early access to these improvements, but the full release is not until the summer.

According to Dexerto, the majority of the pro players and streamers who have commented on the stated adjustments have been favorable.