Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Has Broken its Own Concurrent Player Count Record Again

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive first released in 2012, but in 2020 it’s had more players than ever. The game, which hit a peak player count of 901,000 in February 2020, has now gone even further. As reported by PCGamesN, tracking site Steamcharts recorded a peak player figure of 924,045 on Sunday, March 1.

Steam’s own figures put it even higher–the 24 hour peak count, as of right now, is at 925,990.

The game went free-to-play in December 2018, which seems to have led to a steady growth for the title. The rise of streaming, esports, and the fact that the game receives regular patches and updates have also all contributed to its growth.

The IEM Katowice esports tournament over the weekend of February 28-March 1 likely boosted the game’s player numbers, too–the CS:GO tournament had a $500,000 prize pool.

Counter-Strike: GO is inching towards the coveted one million concurrent player figure that games like Minecraft, Dota 2, and Apex Legends have enjoyed. It’s a ways behind Fortnite’s astonishing record of 8.3 million players, however.

It’s not the only game experiencing long-term growth, either–Rainbow Six: Siege, which is not free-to-play, nevertheless recently broke its own concurrent player count record on Steam.

CS:GO expanded with Halo-themed stickers and music in November 2019.