In September 2023, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) was upgraded to Counter-Strike 2. As of April 2025, Counter-Strike 2 had 1.8 million peak concurrent players on Steam, slightly down from the peak marked in the previous month. CS2 completely replaced CSGO on Steam. Counter Strike still going strong Despite the fact that CS:GO was in August 2012, the game was very popular online and has developed a cult following until its replacement by Counter-Strike 2. CS2 is the fifth game in the Counter-Strike series of games. As with its predecessors, the game takes the form of a multiplayer first-person shooter in which two teams are pitted against each other in various different game modes. After more than a decade, the game's sequel was published on Steam. Not just a game for the gamers While millions of gamers have fun playing Counter-Strike, millions more watch official tournaments online. With such a large fanbase, it is unsurprising that these eSports tournaments are worth big money. The annual cumulative tournament prize pool for the game stood at 20.83 million U.S. dollars in 2024, an increase from the previous year. Gamers are therefore in line for big paydays if they do well in these tournaments, with Danil Kryshkovets, known by his online alias donk, being the top-earning Counter-Strike 2 eSports player worldwide.

Counter-Strike 2 was the most popular game on Steam in July 2025. The tactical first-person shooter game racked up an impressive 917,677 average concurrent players per week, which was more than competing titles Dota 2, PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS, and Marvel Rivals did. What is Steam? Steam is one of the top-grossing digital gaming content platforms worldwide. Initially created by Valve Corporation to update games such as Counter-Strike in 2003, the service has since expanded to include games from third-party developers and publishers. The platform also offers multiplayer gaming, digital rights management, social networking, and video streaming services, drawing millions of users from around the world each day. In 2023, the number of peak concurrent Steam users hit 33 million, gaining roughtly three million users per year. Counter Strike strikes again Counter-Strike 2 is a multiplayer first-person shooter game that pits two teams of terrorists and counter-terrorists against each other in different objective-based game modes. As the fifth game in the top-rated Counter-Strike series, CS2 was released as a direct successor to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The game was released in 2023 as an updated version of CS:GO. In 2024, Counter-Strike 2 came third in the ranking of most played games on Steam at more than 1.7 million peak concurrent players.