Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Has Its Own Page on Steam Again — but There's a Catch

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive — known to astir arsenic CS:GO — is backmost connected Steam successful its ain right… but lone if you cognize wherever to look.

Counter-Strike 2 regularly tops Steam's Most Played games database (for example, it deed a highest of 1.3 cardinal players conscionable successful the past 24 hours alone). Its predecessor, however, was well-loved, too, yet it was efficaciously nuked erstwhile its location connected Steam was replaced arsenic Counter-Strike 2 dropped successful 2023. That meant that if you'd wanted to play CS:GO earlier this update, you would've had to excavation into the game's bequest subdivision via Steam and entree it from there.

A stinging caveat is that the servers person not been resurrected, nor is determination immoderate matchmaking, which means you tin lone play against the bots disposable to you via Counter-Strike 2's beta branch. But the information it's been fixed its ain store leafage could — maybe? — beryllium a motion that those kinds of things whitethorn yet travel backmost to life. (I wouldn't clasp your breath, though. Just successful case!)

That hasn't stopped thousands of players from jumping into the free-to-play shooter, though. At the clip of this article's publication, it had 44,058 concurrent players connected Steam — beauteous awesome worldly for a 14-year-old game.

Interestingly, though, CS:GO won't popular up successful a hunt for you — arsenic the store leafage cautions, "at the petition of the publisher, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is unlisted connected the Steam store and volition not look successful search." This means you'll request the nonstop nexus to entree and download it.

Meanwhile, the lawyer wide of New York, Letitia James, is suing Valve, alleging the level illegally promotes gambling to children. The AG's bureau announced past week that an probe "found that Valve’s video games, including Counter-Strike 2, Team Fortress 2, and Dota 2, alteration gambling by enticing users to wage for the accidental to triumph a uncommon virtual point of important monetary value."

Vikki Blake is simply a newsman for IGN, arsenic good arsenic a critic, columnist, and advisor with 15+ years acquisition moving with immoderate of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's besides a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her astatine BlueSky.