Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Returns to Steam with Its Own Page, But There's a Twist

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, commonly referred to as CS:GO, has made a surprising comeback on Steam with its own dedicated page. However, accessing it requires a bit of detective work.

While Counter-Strike 2 continues to dominate Steam's Most Played charts, recently peaking at 1.3 million players in just 24 hours, its predecessor CS:GO was effectively removed from the platform when Counter-Strike 2 launched in 2023. Until now, players wanting to experience CS:GO had to navigate through Steam's legacy branch to find it.

There's a significant limitation to this revival: the servers remain offline, and there's no matchmaking available. This means players are limited to battling bots through Counter-Strike 2's beta branch. The reappearance of a dedicated store page might hint at potential future developments, but expectations should be kept in check.

Despite these restrictions, the free-to-play shooter has attracted considerable attention. At the time of writing, CS:GO boasted 44,058 concurrent players on Steam—an impressive feat for a game that's 14 years old.

Interestingly, CS:GO won't appear in Steam searches. The store page explicitly states: "at the request of the publisher, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is unlisted on the Steam store and will not appear in search." Players need a direct link to access and download the game.

In related news, New York Attorney General Letitia James has filed a lawsuit against Valve, accusing the platform of illegally promoting gambling to minors. The Attorney General's office announced last week that an investigation revealed "Valve’s video games, including Counter-Strike 2, Team Fortress 2, and Dota 2, enable gambling by enticing users to pay for the chance to win a rare virtual item of significant monetary value."