Valorant has a similar game principle to the tactical shooter Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). Since Riot launched their shooter, player numbers in CS:GO have steadily declined. But is it only because of Valorant?
What are the numbers for Counter-Strike? CS:GO has always been a strong title on Steam. Since October 2019, there has been a steady increase in player numbers on Steam.
At its peak in April 2020, the game had over 1.3 million players simultaneously on the servers. An average of over 850,000 players was recorded.
But already in May 2020, there were first dips in the stats, and the growth ended. In the following months of June, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive went downhill:
- In May, player numbers fell by 10.36 percent, which corresponded to 88,809 players
- June saw another loss of 12.39 percent, which is 95,278 players
Recently, the number of average players of CS:GO according to Steam Charts was 673,517. This is a loss of an average of over 180,000 players compared to April. What could be the reason for this?
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is declining, Valorant is rising?
Is Valorant responsible for the decline of CS:GO? One reason for the decline in Counter-Strike could be the success of Valorant. Riot’s tactical team shooter has adopted many successful concepts from CS:GO.
Especially the weapons and gameplay of Valorant is immediately familiar to any CS:GO expert, and the 11 agents with their supportive skills add even more tactical depth to the game. So has Valorant siphoned players from CS:GO? Some numbers serve as evidence:
- The decline in CS:GO began shortly before the release of the Valorant beta. The lowest point was on April 7, when the beta started.
- Shortly before the end of the Valorant beta, the numbers for CS:GO rose slightly again
- With the release of Valorant on June 2, 2020, the numbers for CS:GO visibly fell again
Additionally, some CS professionals and former professionals, including players like swag, TenZ, Freakazoid, Skadoodle, Summit1g, and shroud have temporarily or permanently switched to Valorant and established themselves there. And when great idols like shroud play a game and recommend it, it is not surprising if fans and other CS:GO players end up with Valorant.
How does it look on Twitch? On the streaming platform Twitch, Counter-Strike has also lost ground. The numbers fell in May by 17,200 average viewers from 120,643 to 103,443 users.
However, Valorant also lost significantly, namely over 400,000 average viewers since April 2020.
This was primarily due to the end of the controversial Twitch drops that forced thousands of users to watch as much Valorant as possible in order to gain access to the Valorant beta.
Currently, Valorant ranks seventh in the Top 10 Twitch charts with 76,987 average viewers, while CS:GO ranks sixth with an average of 106,535 viewers. So CS:GO still has a significant lead here. All of this data comes from Twitchtracker.
What else could explain the decline in CS:GO? Besides the success and competition from Valorant, the easing of the COVID-19 pandemic and lifting of lockdowns could also be a reason for the declining numbers in CS:GO. During the global lockdowns and restrictions, a lot of time was spent playing online games like CS:GO.
Now in the summer, as infection rates are decreasing in some countries and good weather invites outdoor activities, interest in online shooters like CS:GO might be waning.
Player numbers for CS:GO continue to decline, but with still over 600,000 average players and peak numbers of over 1.2 million gamers, Valve’s shooter is far from being done.
However, the fact that Valorant poses tough competition is already indicated by the statement from former CS pro shroud, who firmly believes that Valorant will surpass Counter-Strike.
