Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has been under immense criticism due to the switch to Free2Play in recent days. But what do players who like the game actually say?
What happened? CS:GO announced that it will become completely free and additionally offer a Battle Royale mode. The community responded with a storm of hate speech.
People claimed that they would go with the flow and give up their values. Cheaters would now flood the game, and the previous Prime membership would be worthless, as it would now be obtainable through money instead of gameplay hours. On Steam, the game suddenly received overwhelmingly negative ratings. There were more than 14,000 negative reviews in a single day right after the announcement.
This is how the development went after the switch: Counter-Strike was about to lose a huge part of its player base. However, after the release of the Battle Royale mode and the first wave of hate passed, players began to find the game enjoyable again, and negative reviews have since declined. But what do these players say about the game now?
CS:GO now has as many players as it did last in January 2017
Still the most popular game: On Steam, Counter-Strike remains the game with the most players at the same time. It has even built on this lead. Sure, many free-to-play players have joined, but it hasn’t changed much about the game’s popularity.
In the last 30 days, CS:GO gained over 20,000 new players. The game has clearly gained players due to the switch. The last time CS:GO had this many players peaking (over 746,000) was in January 2017.
What the reviews say: Looking at the reviews on Steam, you notice that the distribution between positive and negative is normalizing again. It seems that the hate towards Counter-Strike is subsiding.
This shows the development: When the news came on December 7 that Counter-Strike would now be free and focus on Battle Royale, the bad reviews for the game plummeted. Now, three days later, the game is recovering and the ratings are slowly coming back into alignment. After the three days before, there were clearly more negative than positive reviews, the ratings on December 10 are slowly coming back together.
Are the new features in the game actually not bad? According to the reviews, the new features have been better received than one might initially expect. After players have started playing again, negative reviews have decreased.
This is how the Battle Royale mode is received by those who enjoy it
This is what the community says: After some players tested the Battle Royale mode, there were numerous positive reviews on Steam. “Virus_” writes as a review: “Solid game, and the Battle Royale mode is fun. For a free game, it’s one of the best.”
The Reddit user “Tarsus98” also finds enjoyment in the mode: “I really like the Battle Royale mode. It’s fast, the map is interesting, and the mechanics are good. Only the speed reduction when I get hit is annoying.”
The approach of the mode is good, but there is still room for improvement, as “Gronaaa” points out on Reddit: “I don’t understand why people are afraid of OPTIONAL new features. I like the Battle Royale mode. A kind of ranking system would be great. Also, a bit more ammunition would be nice, as it runs out quickly.”
Long-term players now have an advantage
Those who have been playing CS:GO for months or even years had to pay for the game. Now that it is free, paying players receive a Prime membership. This membership offers many benefits.
This is what players say about the Prime membership: Those who paid for the game also get their own servers. Only Prime members can then play against each other and compete. Cheaters who joined with the free version find no place there.
The Steam user ToM wrote the following about it: “If you don’t have Prime, you can play normally, but if you are a Prime member, you won’t encounter any cheaters because they play on the free version.”
What do you think of the innovations in CS:GO? Will you remain loyal to the game?
