Counter-Strike 2 was a much-anticipated game by a community of around 20 million people. Right before it was launched, this community was pleased with CS:GO and the Steam numbers were impressive: nearly 1 million average concurrent players and 1,55 million peak players.
Then, in the wake of CS2’s release, the numbers plummeted. From the end of September until the end of February, CS2 lost more than 20% of its player base, including some of its most important star figures, like Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev.
The reason was on everyone’s lips: the game was simply bad. Full of bugs and imbalances, CS2 was in desperate need of updates. Valve, despite having launched a pretty flawed game, did not disappoint when it came to this part.
The patches were frequent and clearly showed that the company was listening to the players’ complaints. That helped a lot in boosting confidence and bringing back most of the players who had left. By May 2024, the number of average concurrent players was 958.000.
Now it’s just 839.000 but that’s likely a temporary decrease caused by people’s decision to prioritize other things, such as their education. The beginning of Autumn always comes with big responsibilities for the youth.
The Current State Of CS2
CS2 is in a good state right now but important features are still missing. No doubt, Valve will eventually bring back most of what used to make CS:GO a great FPS game. It’s just that most game modes take time to implement and there’s probably a long list of tasks to take care of.
At the professional level, CS2 is clearly thriving. The game will have 20 S-tier tournaments in 2024 and at least as many in 2025. Audiences from around the world are tuning in to watch the best players compete. The action is as exciting as ever.
One thing that seems to be missing to some extent is new weapon cases. The last one, called The Kilowatt Case, dates back to early February. Skins have always been a big part of Counter-Strike and many players wonder when the next CS2 operation will be launched.
