In September 2023, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) was upgraded to Counter-Strike 2. As of January 2025, Counter-Strike 2 had 1.59 million peak concurrent players on Steam, up from 1.56 million during the month of the game's update, and down from a peak of 1.62 million players in April 2024. 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 January 2025. The tactical first-person shooter game racked up an impressive 949 thousand 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.

The statistic presents the number of monthly active users of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) worldwide as of February 2020. According to the latest figures, CS:GO had a record 24 million monthly active users.

First released in July 2013, Dota 2 is a multiplayer online battle arena that was created as a sequel to Defense of the Ancients (Dota). Published by Valve Corporation, which is also the creator of the gaming platform Steam, Dota 2 reached its record high peak concurrent player number in March 2016 at nearly 1.29 million gamers playing at the same time. In the last measured month, December 2024, the game peaked at 744,163 concurrent players. One of the biggest games on Steam With the number of monthly active users of DOTA 2 regularly exceeding 7.6 million, the game is one of the most popular on offer on the Steam platform. Dota 2 was the fourth most played game on Steam in 2024, beaten only by Black Myth: Wukong, Palworld, and Counter-Strike 2 in terms of peak number of concurrent players. DOTA 2 ranked second in terms of hourly average number of players. Big money to be won at Dota 2 tournaments As with a lot of the most popular shooter games on PC and console, there is serious money to be won by players who are at the top of their game in Dota 2. At its peak in 2021, the cumulative Dota 2 tournament prize pool worldwide stood at a cool 48 million U.S. dollars - however, the amount of prize money for Dota games has decreased significantly since then. The biggest Dota 2 tournament is The International championship, which most recently took place in Copenhagen in September 2024. The prize pool for the thirteenth edition of The International was 2.58 million U.S. dollars, a far cry from 18.93 million U.S. dollars in 2022. Still, with such sizable sums at stake, it is no surprise that viewers watch in their millions to find out who will come out on top. Nearly 1.52 million viewers tuned in to The International in 2024 to watch the Netherlands-based team, Team Liquid, take home the big prize. The 2020 edition of the tournament was cancelled due to the global coronavirus pandemic.

Action role-playing game Black Myth: Wukong topped the 2024 list for peak number of concurrent players on the online gaming platform Steam, with 2.4 million peak concurrent players. The action-adventure game Palworld, which was released in January 2024, was ranked second. Is Steam keeping pace with the console giants? The fight for supremacy between PC and console gamers is an eternal one. However, it seems that Steam, the main online PC gaming platform, can still keep up with the console giants. In January 2023, Steam registered a record 33 million simultaneous users at peak time, impressive considering the figure stood at 27.4 million just two years before. One of the main advantages of Steam is the staggering library of games available to users, and it appears that players are not afraid of splashing the cash to play their favorite games.   Battle of the Battle Royale games While PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds reigns supreme in the Steam universe, it has stiff competition in the form of its battle royale brother, Fortnite. First released in July 2017, and not available on Steam, free-to-play Fortnite very quickly amassed millions of players and soon became a worldwide hit. Having scooped the award for Best Multiplayer Game at The Game Awards 2018, Epic Games’ smash hit shows no signs of slowing down. But with new players, such as Apex Legends, constantly entering the game, will Fortnite and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds be able to hold on to their loyal fan bases?

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) is an online multiplayer game which pits two teams, the Terrorists and the Counter-Terrorists, against each other in a fight for survival. First released in August 2012, the game has become a commercial and critical success. It won the fan’s choice eSports Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2015 and, most recently, generated revenue of 414 million U.S. dollars worldwide in 2018.

Counter Strike on Steam CS:GO is the fourth game in the Counter-Strike series and was released on both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 as well as on PC. It is most commonly played on the PC gaming platform Steam, where it ranks second on the list of all-time best-selling games. Due to its multiplayer nature, the game often attracts large numbers of gamers at once - its record high peak concurrent player number on Steam was registered in April 2016, at nearly 850.5 thousand gamers playing at the same time. Despite now being several years old, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has still managed to retain a loyal fan base. The game had over 20 million monthly active users at the beginning of 2019, a huge increase from the 2.2 million playing in February 2014.

Big money at stake As a result of the fast-paced and exciting nature of the game, Counter-Strike has also become a hit eSports game. ELEAGUE Major, a CG:GO championship which took place in Boston in 2018, was viewed by a peak of nearly 1.9 million viewers, making it the most watched CS:GO tournament in 2018. The number of viewers engrossed in the action is no doubt increased by the significant sums of money on the line. The cumulative prize pool for Global Offensive tournaments worldwide in 2018 stood at a record 22.65 million U.S. dollars. It seems that it pays to be good at video games and nobody knows this more than Andreas Højsleth, also known as Xyp9x, who has won an estimated 1.32 million U.S. dollars through his Counter-Strike: Global Offensive eSports career.

First released in September 2023, Counter-Strike 2 was the most popular game on the PC gaming platform Steam during 2024. The first-person shooter averaged around 685,000 players per hour. Dota 2 was ranked second, while action RPG game Path of Exile 2 was ranked third, with over 303,000 thousand average hourly players during the measured period. Counter-Strike at the top - or at least close to it Counter-Strike 2 was in third place among the Steam games based on peak number of concurrent players on the online gaming platform in 2023. The game reached 1.7 million concurrent players at its peak in 2024. The top spot was claimed by Black Myth: Wukong, with over 2.4 peak concurrent players. Second-ranked action-adventure Palworld accumulated 2.1 million peak concurrent players. Most of the top games on Steam have been around for the better part of a decade — in fact, Black Myth: Wukong, Palworld, Path of Exile 2 and Marvel Rivals are the only titles released in 2024 to make the top list. All other games in the ranking have been released within the last few years and have managed to accumulate a loyal player base. Steam undisputed number one When you think of PC gaming, you automatically think of Steam. The platform, developed by Valve Corporation, had humble beginnings as a digital distribution platform for Valve to provide updates for its games. Fast-forward a few years and Steam released over 15,000 games in 2024 alone and is showing little signs of slowing down. In 2023, the peak concurrent player count on the platform nearly reached 33 million for the first time, a significant increase from six million in 2012. It seems that while Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft battle it out for console supremacy, Steam remains the undisputed king of PC gaming.

First released in July 2013, DOTA 2 is a multiplayer online battle arena game that was created as a sequel to Defense of the Ancients (DotA). Published by Valve Corporation, which is also the creator of the gaming platform Steam, DOTA 2 had an estimated 7.6 million monthly active users worldwide in February 2021. The MAU figure peaked back in June 2016, when an average of over 13 million players enjoyed the game every month.

DOTA 2: Steam giant DOTA 2 is one of the most successful games on Steam. The game reached nearly 795 thousand players in a single hour in its peak in 2020, beaten only by the battle royale classic, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Cyberpunk 2077, and CSGO. It was also beaten only by CSGO based on the hourly average number of players on the gaming platform - an impressive 427.99 thousand players enjoyed DOTA 2 on Steam during an average hour in 2020.

DOTA 2 tournaments The biggest DOTA 2 eSports tournament worldwide is The International. The first edition of the tournament took place during Gamescom in Cologne, Germany back in 2011. The International 2019 was held at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai and was the biggest eSports tournament of all time based on the overall prize pool of over 34 million U.S. dollars. In fact, all five of the top eSports tournaments of all time were editions of The International, highlighting its importance in the eSports universe. Given the sums of money up for grabs, it is no wonder that viewers in their millions are engrossed in the action. The International 8 in 2018 attracted approximately 14.96 million concurrent viewers in peak moment. These viewers watched professional DOTA 2 eSports team, OG, take home the grand prize, narrowly beating PSG.LGB in the Grand Finals. The 2020 edition of The International was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and is set to take place in Stockholm, Sweden.

The online gaming platform, Steam, was first released by the Valve Corporation in 2003. What started off as a small platform for Valve to provide updates to its games has turned into the largest computer gaming platform in the world. The platform initially released just 65 games in 2004, but this number has progressively risen in the ensuing years, reaching a staggering 15,422 in 2024, up from 9,204 in 2020. Steam’s PC dominance When you think of PC gaming, you automatically think of Steam. With such a wide range of games on offer, from traditional online multiplayer shooters to farming simulators, there is something for every gaming taste on the platform. As a result, gamers flock to Steam in their millions, with the platform registering over 132 million monthly active users in 2021. The global nature of the platform can be seen by the wide range of languages spoken by its users. Whilst English was the most spoken language for most of the platform's history, this changed as over 33 percent of users in October 2024 claimed Chinese as their platform language. Steam’s biggest games Counter Strike 2 was the most popular game on Steam during 2024. The first-person shooter averaged almost 685,000 players per hour, a significant lead over its successor, Counter-Strike 2. The game was also third among the 2024 list for peak number of concurrent players — CS2 reached over 1.74 million players in a single hour in its peak, with Black Myth: Wukong claiming first place with over 2.4 million peak concurrent players.

Downloadable content is a way of enhancing the video gaming experience for the players by giving them access to exciting new content which can range from the purely aesthetic changes to upgrades to characters and items. During a 2019 survey of gamers, it was found that they spent an average of 92 U.S. dollars each year on in-game transactions in League of Legends.

The reasons why Fortnite has become such a global hit are clear to see. Not only is the game free to play, but it is also available on most gaming platforms. On top of this, the Battle Royale-style, in which up to 100 players fight it out at one time, mean that the re-playability of the game is infinite – each game is unique. However, while the game itself is free to download, users are encouraged to purchase downloadable content (DLC) to enhance their gaming experience. In 2019, Fornite users in the United States spent an average of 82 U.S. dollars on DLC. The most common in-game purchases included upgrades to characters and outfits, as well as to the gliders which transport the players into the battle arena. This model for generating revenue seems to have been a success for Epic Games as player spending on the Fortnite mobile app consistently reaches million of U.S. dollars each month.

We asked French consumers about "Video game purchases by store brand" and found that "Amazon" takes the top spot, while "Humble Bundle" is at the other end of the ranking.These results are based on a representative online survey conducted in 2024 among 902 consumers in France. Looking to gain valuable insights about video gamers worldwide? Check out our

Counter Strike is a series of first-person shooter video games in which two teams compete to perpetrate or prevent a terrorist act (bomb attack, hostage taking, etc.). One of the latest games in the series, Counter Strike 2, is popular with gamers and viewers alike. Streams regarding the 2023 sequel to Counter Strike: Global Offensive on the video streaming service Twitch were watched by an average of 80,400 viewers in January 2025.

The eSports game with the greatest tournament prize pool in 2024 was Dota 2, recording a cumulative prize pool valued at 23.86 million U.S. dollars. This cumulative prize pool was significantly higher than the runner-up, Counter-Strike 2, which had a cumulative prize pool of 20.83 million U.S. dollars during this period. Dota 2 Dota 2 is a multiplayer online battle arena video game (MOBA) developed by Valve Software as a follow-up to 'Defense of the Ancients,' a community-created mod for the game 'Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos.' In an effort to grow the popularity of DOTA 2 amongst ‘Defense of the Ancients’ players and to further promote the release of DOTA 2, the development company invited 16 of the world’s leading ‘Defense of the Ancients’ players to participate in a ‘DOTA 2’ tournament, an event that would eventually be held annually. It is this annual event, now referred to as ‘The International’, that offers such a substantial tournament prize pool and results in DOTA 2 consistently offering the greatest cumulative prize pool of any eSports game. eSports overview Whilst competitions have long since been a component of the video gaming industry, it wasn’t until relatively recently that eSports as a professional form of competitive video game play grew in popularity, with video game developers often organizing and funding many of the most popular eSport tournaments, which involve games such as League of Legends, Dota 2, Counter-Strike, Valorant, Overwatch, Street Fighter, Super Smash Bros., and StarCraft. These tournaments often incorporate either multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA), first-person shooter (FPS), combat, card, battle royale, and real-time strategy (RTS) games. The most prominent types of video games associated with eSport tournaments include multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA), first-person shooter (FPS), fighting, card, battle royale and real-time strategy (RTS) games.