CSGO just set a new record for number of players in the game

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive hit another milestone this morning, smashing its previous concurrent player count record and setting a new standard for itself with 933,748 concurrent players.

Since the StarLadder Berlin Major, Counter-Strike has seen a steady increase in players bolstered by its growing esports scene. While professional teams battle it out for prize pools in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, Valve has taken a renewed interest in its flagship shooter.

Counter-Strike has seen more patches in the past several months than it did in all of 2018. For a community that had grown accustomed to a lengthy wait for bug fixes and new content, it feels like a holiday weekend that never ends.

CSGO breaks records as IEM Katowice unfolds

The game’s record-breaking morning came alongside a fiery showdown between G2 Esports and Fnatic at IEM Katowice 2020. As Kenny “kennyS” Schrub found his form on Inferno against Counter-Strike legends Jesper “JW” Weskell and Freddy “KRIMZ” Johansson,  CSGO passed its all-time player count more than eight years after its release. 

The game’s resurgence comes three days before the scheduled end of its most recent season, Operation Shattered Web. Its release was the first seasonal content to come to CSGO since Operation Hydra on May 23, 2017. Shattered Web’s pass introduced new cosmetics into the CSGO economy in the form of player skins. 

The chart below shows that CSGO has received more updates for Shattered Web than even the massive Operation Hydra.

Valve didn’t stop there. Last week’s patch buffed players’ ability to report others, a new in-game crosshair customizer, cosmetic patches, and a host of other improvements to the shooter. As players rush to catch up on Shattered Web’s weekly challenges, it’s still possible that Shattered Web continues past its end date.

There’s are even indications that Valve plans to add team patches and autograph sprays for the upcoming CSGO Major in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. You can read more about what we found inside CSGO’s hidden Panorama code here.

Right now, however, everyone’s eyes are on Poland as IEM Katowice enters its final day of play with G2 Esports set to battle Natus Vincere.