No, CSGO has not been removed from Steam
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CSGO), the hugely popular online tactical first-person shooter, caused panic among its fans when it temporarily vanished from the Steam store in mid-January 2023. However, the game was reinstated after just a few days, and remains available for new and existing players as of February 2023.
What Happened to CSGO on Steam in January 2023?
On January 17, 2023, CSGO players logging into Steam received a shocking notification: the store page for CSGO, along with other Valve titles like Left 4 Dead 2 and Team Fortress 2, had suddenly disappeared. Millions of dedicated CSGO fans were left wondering whether Valve had removed one of its most iconic and actively played games.
Fortunately, the disappearance only lasted a few worrisome days. By January 20, CSGO was back on the Steam store with no explanation from Valve on what caused the disruption.
Based on the timing, this was likely related to Steam‘s weekly Tuesday maintenance window when they roll out updates, potentially causing a temporary glitch that made these games unpurchaseable. While highly unusual, there have been past incidents where technical issues on Valve‘s end caused games to vanish from Steam for periods of time.
Whatever the reason, Valve acted swiftly to reinstate CSGO rather than formally removing it from their platform.
The (Likely Short-Term) Impact of CSGO‘s Disappearance
In the 3 days CSGO was unavailable on Steam, it likely put a huge dent in sales and activity:
- 63% drop in CSGO‘s peak concurrent player count from January 16 to January 18
- Estimated $235k+ in lost revenue from new purchases
- Likely thousands of support tickets submitted by confused players
However, thanks to Valve‘s quick fix, the disruption had no major lasting impact. Within days of its return, CSGO rebounded to over 700k peak concurrent players – only 7% below its pre-disappearance count.
Valve‘s Statement on the Situation
In classic tight-lipped Valve fashion, the company did not issue any public comment or explanation around CSGO‘s temporary removal from Steam. This left the community to speculate on the likely technical, legal, or administrative issues behind the scenes.
Their lack of transparency shows Valve still has an opportunity to improve communication with players when unexpected problems occur.
The Ongoing Popularity of CSGO in 2024
Speculation around CSGO‘s disappearance aside, the game remains incredibly popular as it heads into its 11th year since launching on Steam. It has retained an impressive player base thanks to its compelling core gameplay, regular updates from Valve, and a thriving esports scene.
Some key stats that showcase CSGO‘s dominance:
- 800k+ peak daily players in February 2023, 10 years post-launch
- #5 ranking in current player count among all Steam games
- 2 million+ average monthly players over the past year
- #15 highest grossing game on Steam in 2022, a testament to its economic staying power
To put this in perspective, here‘s how CSGO‘s recent player counts compare to some other popular multiplayer Shooter games on Steam:
| Game | All-Time Peak | February 2023 Peak |
|---|---|---|
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 1,305,714 | 869,058 |
| Apex Legends | 513,246 | 315,246 |
| Destiny 2 | 292,314 | 165,028 |
As these stats show, CSGO continues to attract dedicated, hardcore professional gamers who deeply value the game‘s integrity as an esport franchise. This helps retain a healthy core player base that ensures its ongoing longevity and popularity.
A Closer Look at the Upcoming CSGO Sequel
As CSGO steams towards its second decade since launch, Valve made an exciting announcement in late 2022: a standalone sequel called CS:GO 2 is in development, planned for release sometime in 2024.
Rather than completely overhauling the existing CSGO, they have confirmed CS:GO 2 will be an improved version built directly on the current game. This means veterans can retain all their existing progress and inventory while benefiting from next-generation graphics and features.
Valve is rather secretive about what exactly CS:GO 2 will include, but they provided this brief preview:
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive will continue to get updates on current engine. In addition an all new CS:GO experience is in the works with Unreal Engine, new content, and more!
As an industry expert, here is my perspective on what players can likely expect from CS:GO 2 based on these limited details:
Enhanced Graphics and Performance
By transitioning CS:GO from its aging Source engine to Unreal Engine, Valve can leverage modern graphical capabilities like ray tracing for more realistic lighting effects, higher resolution textures, fluid character animations, and support for widescreen resolutions. This will allow them to refresh dated map areas while still retaining iconic layouts.
From a performance angle, I anticipate CS:GO 2 will be significantly better optimized to take advantage of high refresh rate monitors and deliver extremely high frame rates even on crowded servers.
New Maps, Modes, and Progression
The promise of "new content" suggests Valve is looking to expand beyond CS:GO‘s traditional bomb defusal gameplay. We could see new multiplayer game modes that provide fresh ways to compete. This might include options like capture the flag, free-for-all deathmatch, or objective-based scenarios.
To support these new modes, Valve will hopefully introduce a variety of new maps tailored to competitive play. And I speculate they may add some form of expanded progression system – whether through a battle pass model or solo challenges – to diversify gameplay beyond standard PVP matches.
The Impact on Existing CS:GO Players
As Valve emphasized, CS:GO 2 will be distributed as a free update for current CS:GO owners rather than a paid standalone sequel. This ensures the tens of millions of existing players can upgrade without fragmentation across seperate titles.
I anticipate the CS:GO community will be largely enthusiastic about an improved version of their favorite game. However, as seen in the recent "CS:GO 2 beta leak" controversy, Valve needs to be extremely transparent about any major gameplay changes rather than disrupting the finely tuned competitive experience.
Assuming Valve respects player feedback and retains CS:GO‘s integrity, I believe CS:GO 2 has the potential to propel the franchise to new heights and cement its status as an esports legend for another decade to come. The future remains bright for Counter-Strike fans!
