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The gaming community is buzzing with excitement following the announcement of Counter-Strike 2, resulting in a surge of players returning to its predecessor, CSGO.
According to both SteamDB and Steamcharts, the player count for CSGO on Steam reached an all-time high of 1,519,457, surpassing its previous peak during the pandemic lockdowns in April 2020.
Counter-Strike 2 is the next evolution of CS:GO that is powered by Valve's Source 2 game engine. Counter-Strike 2 will feature several significant changes including volumetric smokes, maps, game mechanics, visual aesthetics, dynamic lighting, character models, weapon models and game audio to name a few. However, the company has confirmed that all CSGO weapon skins will be ported over to the new game. This has caused quite a stir in the CS skin marketplace, with even the most expensive skins making the transition. The heightened player count is believed to be due to beta access to CS2 being limited only to dedicated CS:GO players, excluding cheaters and trolls.
CS:GO has consistently maintained a large player base since its launch, and even during its lowest point in 2018, it still drew in over 400,000 daily players. The release of the free version of the game in late 2018 stabilised the player count to around one million year-over-year.
The response to the announcement of Counter-Strike 2 has been overwhelmingly positive, with many players excited about Valve's improvements to the game. Upgraded maps and a critical upgrade to server tick rates should make the game more responsive than ever. A few fortunate players are already experiencing these features during Counter-Strike 2's Limited Test, but the majority of players will have to wait until summer for the big release.