Counter Strike 2 Experiences a Year-Low in Player Numbers

Plagued by game-breaking bugs, a flawed anti-cheat system, and a bunch of other problems, the launch of Counter Strike 2 in September 2023 unfolded in less-than-ideal conditions. While a number of major issues with the competitive shooter have been patched out by Valve over the past few weeks, the game is still suffering from a constant decrease in player numbers.

Counter Strike 2 has hit its annual lowest point in terms of player count as of November 2023, according to data from Steam Charts. With an average of slightly over 721,000 players, the past 30 days mark a new yearly low for CS2, which is well under its average player count of 726,150 in January 2023.

The news comes only a few weeks after the title experienced its steepest player decline in over a decade, when it lost roughly 18.92% of the player base within the span of one month. This marked the biggest percentage drop in the game’s player numbers since October 2012.

Apart from the aforementioned issues, the newly implemented sub-tick system that CS2 has brought to the world of FPS gaming has also provoked mixed reactions from the community. Players have complained that the visual and audio feedback from sub-tick input felt “off” in the game – a problem that has been addressed by the developers across multiple updates last week.

Despite its current challenges, players shouldn’t write off CS2 as a ‘dead game’ any time soon, as it’s likely to bounce back once the developers fine-tune the game into what it was meant to be. In fact, CS2 still proudly retains its position in the Steam Charts as the most-played game on the platform, followed by Dota 2.