Forbes Innovation Games ‘CS:GO’ Breaks Player Record Thanks To ‘Counter-Strike 2’ Beta Mike Stubbs Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Covering esports and influencers across the world. Following Mar 25, 2023, 11:02am EDT | Press play to listen to this article! Got it! Share to
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Twitter Share to Linkedin CS:GO is reaching new heights thanks to Counter-Strike 2. Credit: Valve Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has broken another player record after reaching more than 1.5 million concurrent players earlier today following the hype around the Counter-Strike 2 Limited Test. At the time of writing 1,507,212 people are currently playing CS:GO , which is the highest number of concurrent players ever, marking the first time that number has ever crossed the 1.5 million players mark. But this is just the latest in a long streak of new player records, with new highs being set on three different dates last month alone, as Counter-Strike enjoys a new level of popularity. The hype and speculation around the launch of Counter-Strike 2 was a clear driving force for previous record breaks as players wanted to practise before the rumoured launch of the new game. Now, with Counter-Strike 2 announced, player numbers are skyrocketing once again, as fans will be trying to get access to the Limited Test themselves. To qualify for an invite into the CS2 beta , you need to have a lot of recent hours on official Valve servers, as well as good community standing and no bans on your account. With playtime being a key metric here, thousands of players are grinding away hoping to get an invite to the CS2 beta next, although there is no word on exactly when more people will be added to the test. The concurrent players chart is not the only one that has seen a significant increase since the announcement of Counter-Strike 2 . A report from Stream Charts revealed that in the 24 hours after the announcement CS:GO hit its highest peak concurrent viewers on Twitch in 2023 with 852,100 people tuning in to see streamers play the beta. While this number only ranks at 20th all-time for CS:GO , almost all of the other instances have been around major tournament finals. MORE FOR YOU The Inside Story Of Papa John's Toxic Culture The Newest Kempinski Hotel, In Cancun, Welcomes Both A ‘Lady’ And ‘Gent’ In Red As Special Ambassadors Iconic Jeep Cherokee Heads for Retirement After Almost 50 Years In Production One streamer who took advantage of this was Owen "smooya" Butterfield, a CS:GO pro who is currently without a team. When he got access to the Counter-Strike 2 Limited Test and booted up his stream he brought in a massive 192,000 concurrent viewers, according to Stream Charts, smashing his previous record by more than 170,000 viewers. While this week has been a massive one for Counter-Strike in a lot of areas, there is likely an even bigger one on the horizon. When Counter-Strike 2 fully launches many fans are speculating that the concurrent player record will be smashed again, with some expecting it to break the two million mark. Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn . Check out some of my other work here . Mike Stubbs Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions