Games

CS2 breaks all-time CS:GO player count, sets new record

BBG News

A remarkable achievement, but one factor is helping inflate the count.

CS2’s popularity knows no bounds as the sequel to CS:GO broke an important record today: the all-time Counter-Strike concurrent player count.

A new record of 1,824,989 players were recorded by Steam on March 15, setting a new target for the Counter-Strike franchise to reach. The original concurrent peak of 1,818,773 came in the lead-up to CS2’s launch back in 2023. However, as popular as the franchise has become, concerns over the way in which the record has been brought up are rife.

Bots may play a part as CS2 shatters concurrent record

In September 2023, CS2 was introduced, but the number of players who joined was significantly lower than anticipated, given the buzz generated by the exclusive March 2023 test preview announcement. Valve selected some CS:GO players to participate in the private testing phase of CS2, creating a wave of excitement as many eagerly awaited their invitations.

Following the rush of players returning to Counter-Strike, the number of players skyrocketed to an unprecedented 1.8 million. Many felt that such numbers wouldn’t be seen again, particularly after the release of CS2, which received heavy criticism from the community who felt that the sequel was not fully developed.

Valve worked to rectify the issues and, since then, CS2 has gained back the players it lost through early 2024. The player count has climbed significantly over the past year, peaking first during the Shanghai Major, then again with Premier Season 2 in January 2025.

However, significant progress was made today that may not be surpassed soon, as CS2 continues to experience a remarkable phase of expansion.

Despite its numerous advantages, CS2 has certain issues. One such issue is the prevalence of bots in some less-frequented servers. Numerous members of the CS2 community have shared their experiences of matchmaking lobbies being swarmed by bot accounts.

A frequent player on Valve’s deathmatch lobbies in the Hong Kong server claimed that every game they played was filled with bot accounts, and another commenter echoed this observation about the Southeast Asia servers as well.

The automated accounts yield items such as cases and skins on a weekly basis, which are then marketable on Steam. Since these bot accounts add to the overall player count, it’s unlikely that Valve will address this issue immediately.

We’ll see the player count likely spike again at the Austin Major later this year, but as CS2 remains ever-popular — and Valve does nothing about the rampant bot problem — the concurrent record’s ceiling is truly up in the air.

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2025-03-16 06:11

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