The classic game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive had one of the strongest months in its history in December 2018. This is probably due to the switch to a Free2Play model.
After CS:GO took the step to become a Free2Play game, the developers faced massive criticism. The negative reviews on Steam skyrocketed and the player base was disappointed.
However, looking at the player numbers in December 2018, one can see that Counter-Strike made a huge leap upwards. It has been a long time since so many players have played the classic game.
This is what the player numbers of CS:GO say
This many players are playing CS:GO: In December, an average of nearly 400,000 players played Counter-Strike, peaking at even 746,000 players simultaneously. In the previous month, November, an average of 310,000 players played CS:GO simultaneously. December is therefore a particularly strong month for Counter-Strike.
Counter-Strike thus had the fifth strongest month ever in December 2018, almost reaching the highest point of all time. This was over 850,000 players simultaneously in April 2016.
Where do these high numbers come from? At the beginning of December, the developer of the game, Valve, announced that the base game would now be offered for free on Steam. In addition to this change, a completely new battle royale mode was also introduced.
Now that the game is free, player numbers are increasing. Anyone who wanted to try the game but didn’t want to spend money can now do so for free.
This is what the community says: The numbers on Steam do not indicate whether the game was only played because it is free. At the beginning of the transition, however, there was a shitstorm and many negative reviews. CS:GO was accused of “going with the flow” and “abandoning its values.”
However, looking at the Steam reviews now shows a clear upward trend. The player base is starting to like the game again.
According to some players, this is not just due to the switch to Free2Play. The new battle royale mode and the still good gameplay of Counter-Strike are also well received.
What do these numbers mean for the future? It remains to be seen whether the players will continue to stay in the coming months. If that is the case, then it was the right step for the developers of CS:GO to make their game free. The numerous positive reviews that have been given on Steam in recent weeks can give the developers hope.
The developers now have the task of building on these numbers. They must prove that it is not only the switch to free that is responsible for these numbers.
We have summarized some comments on Steam that show the positive side of the game:
