The Game Census
Counter-Strike 2 cover art

Counter-Strike 2

Valve · 2012-08-21

Steam

ActionFree To Play

Modes: Single player, Multiplayer · Perspectives: First person

Releases: Sep 27, 2023 (Linux), Mar 22, 2023 (PC (Microsoft Windows))

For over two decades, Counter-Strike has offered an elite competitive experience, one shaped by millions of players from across the globe. And now the next chapter in the CS story is about to begin. This is Counter-Strike 2.

Counter-Strike 2 is a free-to-play Action and Free To Play game released in 2012, with an estimated 100,000,000 .. 200,000,000 owners and a Very Positive review sentiment (86% of 9,783,383 reviews).

1,109,680
playing now
86%
positive of 9.9M reviews
Very Positive
steam's rating (official)
100,000,000–200,000,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
69/100
IGDB user rating (352 ratings)
9
Nexus mods (5.2k downloads)
80/100
opencritic · strong · 88% recommend · from 10 critics
14h
to beat · rushed 1h · completionist 140h
gold
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Playable
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Playable
Free
steam price (US)

1,109,680 players in-game as of 2026-10-14 17:00 UTC (census sample)

Counter-Strike 2 is a 2023 free-to-play first-person shooter video game developed and published by Valve. It is the fifth main entry in the Counter-Strike series, produced as an updated version of the previous entry, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (2012). As with its predecessor, the game pits two opposing teams, the Counter-Terrorists and the Terrorists, against each other in various objective-based game modes.

Trailer

Counter-Strike 2 trailer thumbnail

Counter-Strike 2 - Official Launch Trailer

≈1,000,000 YouTube results for this game's trailer search

Health check

Thriving
  • · 1,109,680 players in-game right now — a Steam top-100 title.
  • · 655,056 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~81,882/week).
  • · Review velocity up 2% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 1% of 27,533 Action games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-09-17

Tier history: healthy→thriving (Sep 17), thriving→healthy (Sep 16), healthy→thriving (Sep 16), thriving→healthy (Sep 16)

All-time low: $3.74 at Steam (2013-11-29)via IsThereAnyDeal

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
200k200k20182026Week of 2018-03-01: 38,423 positiveWeek of 2018-03-01: 8,927 negativeWeek of 2018-04-01: 26,395 positiveWeek of 2018-04-01: 7,531 negativeWeek of 2018-05-01: 25,846 positiveWeek of 2018-05-01: 6,321 negativeWeek of 2018-06-01: 31,037 positiveWeek of 2018-06-01: 6,884 negativeWeek of 2018-07-01: 29,220 positiveWeek of 2018-07-01: 6,299 negativeWeek of 2018-08-01: 29,830 positiveWeek of 2018-08-01: 6,292 negativeWeek of 2018-09-01: 26,312 positiveWeek of 2018-09-01: 4,878 negativeWeek of 2018-10-01: 25,296 positiveWeek of 2018-10-01: 4,299 negativeWeek of 2018-11-01: 68,588 positiveWeek of 2018-11-01: 8,995 negativeWeek of 2018-12-01: 49,885 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 35,043 negativeWeek of 2019-01-01: 35,082 positiveWeek of 2019-01-01: 8,871 negativeWeek of 2019-02-01: 34,192 positiveWeek of 2019-02-01: 5,963 negativeWeek of 2019-03-01: 35,272 positiveWeek of 2019-03-01: 5,236 negativeWeek of 2019-04-01: 29,803 positiveWeek of 2019-04-01: 4,616 negativeWeek of 2019-05-01: 28,130 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 4,467 negativeWeek of 2019-06-01: 72,414 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 9,413 negativeWeek of 2019-07-01: 90,065 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 10,184 negativeWeek of 2019-08-01: 28,408 positiveWeek of 2019-08-01: 4,152 negativeWeek of 2019-09-01: 27,057 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 3,568 negativeWeek of 2019-10-01: 52,944 positiveWeek of 2019-10-01: 5,789 negativeWeek of 2019-11-01: 200,311 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 22,686 negativeWeek of 2019-12-01: 123,114 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 14,973 negativeWeek of 2020-01-01: 106,271 positiveWeek of 2020-01-01: 13,640 negativeWeek of 2020-02-01: 98,576 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 12,199 negativeWeek of 2020-03-01: 129,384 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 15,919 negativeWeek of 2020-04-01: 154,264 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 19,462 negativeWeek of 2020-05-01: 134,154 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 16,237 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 105,266 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 12,827 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 95,677 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 12,356 negativeWeek of 2020-08-01: 91,206 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 12,033 negativeWeek of 2020-09-01: 78,638 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 9,689 negativeWeek of 2020-10-01: 82,983 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 10,688 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 123,339 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 13,520 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 124,355 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 14,052 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 105,384 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 12,999 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 86,505 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 10,704 negativeWeek of 2021-03-01: 93,466 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 11,791 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 82,430 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 11,258 negativeWeek of 2021-05-01: 76,920 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 11,079 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 86,148 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 13,458 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 77,235 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 10,570 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 78,104 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 10,531 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 74,696 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 9,909 negativeWeek of 2021-10-01: 70,990 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 8,999 negativeWeek of 2021-11-01: 69,056 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 8,610 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 68,383 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 8,724 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 78,616 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 9,862 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 71,244 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 8,735 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 68,066 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 8,200 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 57,366 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 7,269 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 56,049 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 7,110 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 56,873 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 7,444 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 63,481 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 8,150 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 71,809 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 9,490 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 57,430 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 7,128 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 55,731 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 6,675 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 55,857 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 6,644 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 63,834 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 7,258 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 74,513 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 8,283 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 67,363 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 7,730 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 121,419 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 9,876 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 91,547 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 8,966 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 74,457 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 7,742 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 73,956 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 8,395 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 78,000 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 8,068 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 74,092 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 8,120 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 123,959 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 33,709 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 75,751 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 47,236 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 46,871 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 17,418 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 42,277 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 13,785 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 46,500 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 12,964 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 53,956 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 14,013 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 52,831 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 15,393 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 45,315 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 14,386 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 46,485 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 11,640 negativeWeek of 2024-06-01: 52,768 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 11,937 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 92,586 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 12,294 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 59,287 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 13,149 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 42,907 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 11,137 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 46,143 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 13,870 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 44,829 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 10,466 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 47,689 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 10,513 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 69,176 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 14,254 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 69,962 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 14,763 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 83,567 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 17,117 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 60,248 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 13,126 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 60,317 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 14,578 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 53,052 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 12,610 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 60,333 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 18,247 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 62,467 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 15,694 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 57,587 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 12,989 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 71,526 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 17,125 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 69,096 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 13,457 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 69,461 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 12,677 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 83,532 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 15,135 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 74,264 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 13,621 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 76,991 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 21,389 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 66,945 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 14,659 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 61,471 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 14,033 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 60,343 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 12,678 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 63,004 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 16,706 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 64,481 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 18,479 negativeWeek of 2026-09-01: 59,600 positiveWeek of 2026-09-01: 16,392 negativeWeek of 2026-10-01: 21,780 positiveWeek of 2026-10-01: 6,033 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

1.4M422k2026-09-14 18:00 — 1,006,097 players2026-09-15 18:00 — 1,038,908 players2026-09-17 08:00 — 585,414 players2026-09-18 08:00 — 631,708 players2026-09-19 08:00 — 820,963 players2026-09-20 08:00 — 692,347 players2026-09-21 08:00 — 566,637 players2026-09-22 08:00 — 552,970 players2026-09-23 08:00 — 641,966 players2026-09-24 08:00 — 634,225 players2026-09-25 08:00 — 777,386 players2026-09-26 08:00 — 803,648 players2026-09-27 08:00 — 806,734 players2026-09-28 08:00 — 604,171 players2026-09-29 08:00 — 603,272 players2026-09-30 08:00 — 661,376 players2026-10-01 08:00 — 696,859 players2026-10-02 08:00 — 659,002 players2026-10-03 08:00 — 729,846 players2026-10-04 08:00 — 771,320 players2026-10-05 08:00 — 681,729 players2026-10-06 08:00 — 643,403 players2026-10-07 08:00 — 695,461 players2026-10-08 08:00 — 584,198 players2026-10-09 08:00 — 546,370 players2026-10-10 08:00 — 693,342 players2026-10-11 08:00 — 875,621 players2026-10-12 08:00 — 575,054 players2026-10-13 08:00 — 512,480 players2026-10-14 08:00 — 578,801 players2026-10-14 17:00 — 1,109,680 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
1.1M933Jul 2012Aug 2026Jul 2012 — avg 933 · peak 1,642Dec 2012 — avg 14,079 · peak 27,553May 2013 — avg 18,710 · peak 53,379Oct 2013 — avg 27,902 · peak 53,263Mar 2014 — avg 70,143 · peak 164,495Aug 2014 — avg 133,186 · peak 277,192Jan 2015 — avg 234,071 · peak 443,188Jun 2015 — avg 344,156 · peak 610,401Nov 2015 — avg 360,926 · peak 786,707Apr 2016 — avg 375,796 · peak 850,485Sep 2016 — avg 322,526 · peak 638,360Feb 2017 — avg 402,386 · peak 744,468Jul 2017 — avg 377,589 · peak 624,785Dec 2017 — avg 340,877 · peak 598,405May 2018 — avg 262,171 · peak 454,481Oct 2018 — avg 325,908 · peak 565,968Mar 2019 — avg 390,240 · peak 680,071Aug 2019 — avg 415,097 · peak 647,461Jan 2020 — avg 501,196 · peak 817,229Jun 2020 — avg 671,647 · peak 1,009,467Nov 2020 — avg 668,755 · peak 1,037,464Apr 2021 — avg 723,347 · peak 1,148,077Sep 2021 — avg 512,351 · peak 942,519Feb 2022 — avg 634,638 · peak 995,163Jul 2022 — avg 594,453 · peak 928,329Dec 2022 — avg 629,325 · peak 1,065,079May 2023 — avg 1,117,517 · peak 1,802,853Oct 2023 — avg 792,125 · peak 1,364,902Mar 2024 — avg 885,630 · peak 1,521,796Aug 2024 — avg 897,338 · peak 1,425,958Jan 2025 — avg 914,092 · peak 1,594,016Jun 2025 — avg 1,010,124 · peak 1,725,815Nov 2025 — avg 981,482 · peak 1,597,285Apr 2026 — avg 974,786 · peak 1,564,830Aug 2026 — avg 825,258 · peak 1,331,274
Monthly average players (source: steamcharts.com) — history via steamcharts.com; live census sampling since Aug 2026.

Chart history

#1#12026-09-142026-10-142026-09-14 — #12026-09-15 — #12026-09-16 — #12026-09-17 — #12026-09-18 — #12026-09-19 — #12026-09-20 — #12026-09-21 — #12026-09-22 — #12026-09-23 — #12026-09-24 — #12026-09-25 — #12026-09-26 — #12026-09-27 — #12026-09-28 — #12026-09-29 — #12026-09-30 — #12026-10-01 — #12026-10-02 — #12026-10-03 — #12026-10-04 — #12026-10-05 — #12026-10-06 — #12026-10-07 — #12026-10-08 — #12026-10-09 — #12026-10-10 — #12026-10-11 — #12026-10-12 — #12026-10-13 — #12026-10-14 — #1
Best Steam most-played rank per day (census top-100 snapshots).
PositiveNegative
2.9k2.9k2026-09-152026-10-142026-09-15: 1,009 new positive2026-09-15: 776 new negative2026-09-16: 1,082 new positive2026-09-16: 735 new negative2026-09-17: 1,175 new positive2026-09-17: 539 new negative2026-09-18: 1,206 new positive2026-09-18: 475 new negative2026-09-19: 1,479 new positive2026-09-19: 544 new negative2026-09-20: 1,552 new positive2026-09-20: 534 new negative2026-09-21: 1,507 new positive2026-09-21: 470 new negative2026-09-22: 2,370 new positive2026-09-22: 941 new negative2026-09-23: 2,480 new positive2026-09-23: 1,123 new negative2026-09-24: 1,633 new positive2026-09-24: 635 new negative2026-09-25: 2,009 new positive2026-09-25: 679 new negative2026-09-26: 1,893 new positive2026-09-26: 621 new negative2026-09-27: 1,709 new positive2026-09-27: 541 new negative2026-09-28: 1,214 new positive2026-09-28: 462 new negative2026-09-29: 1,430 new positive2026-09-29: 494 new negative2026-09-30: 1,302 new positive2026-09-30: 461 new negative2026-10-01: 1,831 new positive2026-10-01: 759 new negative2026-10-02: 1,515 new positive2026-10-02: 556 new negative2026-10-03: 1,567 new positive2026-10-03: 530 new negative2026-10-04: 1,728 new positive2026-10-04: 569 new negative2026-10-05: 1,562 new positive2026-10-05: 464 new negative2026-10-06: 2,923 new positive2026-10-06: 926 new negative2026-10-07: 628 new positive2026-10-07: 488 new negative2026-10-08: 1,107 new positive2026-10-08: 473 new negative2026-10-09: 1,429 new positive2026-10-09: 512 new negative2026-10-10: 1,590 new positive2026-10-10: 567 new negative2026-10-11: 1,599 new positive2026-10-11: 485 new negative2026-10-12: 1,191 new positive2026-10-12: 449 new negative2026-10-13: 2,634 new positive2026-10-13: 391 new negative2026-10-14: 1,169 new positive2026-10-14: 439 new negative
New Steam reviews per day (census review snapshots). Positive above the line, negative below.

Price history

$14.99$0.002015-01-012018-10-112015-01-01 — best price $7.492015-01-02 — best price $14.992015-03-13 — best price $7.492015-03-16 — best price $14.992015-06-11 — best price $7.492015-06-22 — best price $14.992015-08-20 — best price $7.492015-08-24 — best price $14.992015-11-25 — best price $7.492015-12-01 — best price $14.992015-12-03 — best price $7.492015-12-05 — best price $14.992015-12-22 — best price $7.492016-01-04 — best price $14.992016-02-05 — best price $7.492016-02-12 — best price $14.992016-06-23 — best price $7.492016-07-04 — best price $14.992016-11-23 — best price $10.042016-11-29 — best price $14.992016-12-01 — best price $10.042016-12-03 — best price $14.992016-12-22 — best price $10.042017-01-02 — best price $14.992017-06-22 — best price $10.042017-07-05 — best price $14.992017-11-22 — best price $10.042017-11-28 — best price $14.992017-12-07 — best price $10.042017-12-09 — best price $14.992017-12-21 — best price $10.042018-01-04 — best price $14.992018-02-15 — best price $7.492018-02-19 — best price $14.992018-06-21 — best price $7.492018-07-05 — best price $14.992018-10-11 — best price $0.00
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

1.6k5252026-05-13 — 690 pageviews2026-05-17 — 823 pageviews2026-05-21 — 682 pageviews2026-05-25 — 770 pageviews2026-05-29 — 745 pageviews2026-06-02 — 696 pageviews2026-06-06 — 598 pageviews2026-06-10 — 632 pageviews2026-06-14 — 658 pageviews2026-06-18 — 646 pageviews2026-06-22 — 1,270 pageviews2026-06-26 — 640 pageviews2026-06-30 — 555 pageviews2026-07-04 — 582 pageviews2026-07-08 — 652 pageviews2026-07-12 — 624 pageviews2026-07-16 — 588 pageviews2026-07-20 — 585 pageviews2026-07-24 — 525 pageviews2026-07-28 — 668 pageviews2026-08-01 — 559 pageviews2026-08-05 — 627 pageviews2026-08-09 — 676 pageviews2026-08-13 — 681 pageviews2026-08-17 — 622 pageviews2026-08-21 — 795 pageviews2026-08-25 — 814 pageviews2026-08-29 — 591 pageviews2026-09-02 — 602 pageviews2026-09-06 — 648 pageviews2026-09-10 — 625 pageviews2026-09-14 — 723 pageviews2026-09-18 — 1,218 pageviews2026-09-22 — 1,364 pageviews2026-09-26 — 1,175 pageviews2026-09-30 — 743 pageviews2026-10-04 — 622 pageviews2026-10-08 — 668 pageviews2026-10-12 — 710 pageviews2026-10-13 — 718 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Completion

1
achievements tracked
40.1%
earned "A New Beginning"
40.1%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsLinuxMulti-playerCross-Platform MultiplayerSteam Trading CardsSteam WorkshopSteam WorkshopIn-App PurchasesAdjustable Text SizeCamera ComfortColor AlternativesCustom Volume Controls1 DLC

28 supported languages: Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian…

Post-launch support: 1 DLC released (Steam store data)

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
Steam (Steam)327,412100%1

Players tracked by Exophase (achievement/trophy trackers) — a sample of the player base, not total sales.

Where its players are

Share of Steam reviews by language (top languages measured) — a proxy for where the player base lives.

Player tags

FPSPvPWarCo-opActionShooterMilitaryStrategyTacticale-sports

Census log

Computed from census-recorded observations only — dates are observation dates.

Recent updates

Players also track

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Similarity via IGDB.

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