Counter-Strike Global Offensive is ten years old, if you can believe that, and it’s clear that it is as popular as it ever was by looking at SteamDB and the game’s player count. In the last 24 hours, as the CS:GO birthday celebrations kick off, the game has recorded its highest concurrent player count in over a year – which is only a fraction off the game’s all-time peak player count, too. It’s clear that the decision from CS:GO to revive a 1.6 map to celebrate was a good one.
Looking at the aforementioned database, it can be seen that (at the time of writing) CS:GO has a 24-hour peak concurrent player count of around 1,040,000 – this is just shy of the all-time concurrent player count peak of 1,309,000 recorded in April 2020. If you’re wondering where that peak came from, it appears to be a result of the IEM Katowice 2020 esports tournament.
As for the current spike in players? It’s hard to say, but you have to imagine that the start of the game’s tenth anniversary has had a part to play. Interestingly, SteamDB also reveals that, following a spike in Twitch viewership for CS:GO on July 7, it’s seen a steady decline while the player count rises.
While we can’t say for sure that everyone watching CS:GO on Twitch over the last few months has suddenly started playing again, it’s certainly an unusual coincidence. However, we still think that the fact that there has been an update to the map pool – and the fact that players can currently get their hands on a CS:GO 10 year coin in-game – are part of the reason for this increased player count.
With all this being said, it’s clear that the CS:GO player community is somewhat divided over the state of the game. While there are some that believe the solution to CS:GO’s problems is s1mple – namely, s1mple himself – there are others out there that clearly think the latest set of CS:GO patch notes are nothing to worry about.
We can’t speak for the player community when it comes to these things, but this high player count is undeniable evidence that there are still a lot of people who enjoy climbing the CS:GO ranks and opening CS:GO cases. So, it isn’t all bad. We just hope the next ten years are as fun as the first.