One of Steam’s most incredible records has been broken, asCounter-Strike: Global OffensiveovertookDota 2for the highest concurrent players of all time. As of Saturday, April 18, the new record stands at an astonishing 1,305,000 concurrent players, breaking the previous record for the second day in a row.Dota 2’s record had been just short of 1.3 million concurrent players. It wouldn’t be surprising ifCounter-Strike: Global Offensivecontinued to stretch the record higher week to week going forward.
The reason for the sudden surge in popularity forCounter-Strike: Global Offensiveis simple, as most people likely already understand. TheCOVID-19 pandemichas led to strict stay-at-home restrictions across the world, and many are taking the opportunity to social distance online and play some competitive online games.
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COVID-19 isn’t the only reason for the surge, however. Part of the rest of the equation comes from a new patch forCounter-Strike: Global Offensive. This helped push the game over the edge for the record, but really only increased over player account a small bit. More importantly, funnily enough, is excitement for theRiot GamesCounter-Strikelike shooterValorant.Valorantis currently in closed beta, so very few people can actually play it, and it’s no surprise that a lot of those players are returning toCounter-Strike: Global Offensivein the meantime.
TheDota 2record thatCounter-Strikebeat has stood since March 2016, during the peak ofDota 2hype. March 2016 had a couple of big events forDota 2. First, theDota 2Shanghai Majors tournamentbegan and ended. The Chinese tournament was incredibly popular. The second wasDota 2’s Spring Cleaning 2016 update, which massively polished assorted aspects of the game.
It’s unlikely thatDota 2will be able to retake its record at this point given the game’s steady decline in players, but anything is possible. As for what other games might be able to take the record, it’s hard to imagine. The record thatCounter-Strikeset is incredible. The game that beats it likely doesn’t exist yet.
It’s crazy to think an 8-year old game likeCounter-Strike: Global Offensivecould have such a massive resurgence, as even Valve’sbattle royale mode forCounter-Strikedidn’t lead to too big of a surge in players. But the COVID-19 pandemic has definitely redefined normal andCounter-Strike: Global Offensiveis doing its part to give people at home some amount of comfort. A lot of people, at that.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensiveis available now on PC.
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