Counter-Strike is one of the biggest shooters of all time, yet one of its creators is glad to have sold the game to Valve back then.
What is the biggest shooter in the world? It’s hard to say exactly what the biggest shooter in the world is these days, but one title keeps coming up in this discussion: Counter-Strike.
Even people who are not gamers have often heard the name Counter-Strike.
No other shooter has managed to stay relevant and attract comparable player masses for so long. Even on streaming services like Twitch, Counter-Strike is still one of the most streamed games, competing in the shooter genre mainly with Valorant and Fortnite (via Sullygnome).
Even CS2, which has been struggling with cheaters and other issues since its release in 2023, had an average of 947,500 players on Steam in June 2024. No other shooter poses competition on Steam. Additionally, we know: Thanks to the skin trading and cases, Counter-Strike is a financial giant hit for Valve.
From a Mod to a Mega-Shooter
Who is it about? Counter-Strike once originated as a mod for the game “Half-Life” and was first released in 2000. The shooter was developed by students Minh Le and Jess Cliffe at that time.
In an interview with the Norwegian website spillhistorie.no, Minh Le explained that he had the idea for CS as early as 1998. During the development, Le and Cliffe were still studying. Le graduated in 2001 – a year after CS was released.
As Counter-Strike became increasingly popular, Valve showed interest. The studio bought the original Half-Life mod and hired the two developers. Minh Le then shared why he is glad to have sold CS to Valve back then.
Why is he glad to have sold to Valve? In the interview with spillhistorie.no, Minh Le also responded to the question of how he retrospectively evaluates the sale of Counter-Strike and whether he is happy with the decision.
Minh says: “Yes, I am satisfied with how things went with Valve regarding the sale of the IP to them. They have done a great job preserving the legacy of CS.”
A problem that is currently harming the legacy of Counter-Strike is cheaters. CS2 is still struggling with players cheating through third-party software months after the game has been released. In June, Valve undertook a major banning initiative: The largest game on Steam is reportedly banning 15% of its players permanently
