Today is the official 20th birthday of the Counter-Strike franchise.
It all started with a Half-Life modification in 1999 and, since then, Counter-Strike has become one of the most popular online games in the world.
To celebrate, CS:GO’s developers brought one of the best gifts the community could have: the old Dust 2 map from Counter-Strike 1.6 is now available in a CS:GO casual mod.
Meanwhile, on social media, fans and major figures in the community are celebrating the game’s landmark birthday.
On the CS:GO subreddit, a screenshot was posted showing the co-creators Mihn Lee and Jess Cliffe decided on the game’s name.
Here are what a few major figures in the community had to say about the game’s birthday.
Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo, MIBR’s captain:
Greatest game of all time! Happy birthday CSGO, thanks everyone involved on making this game epic for so long. Can’t even imagine how my life would be without Counter-Strike. definitely the thing I’m passionate the most about. https://t.co/aRRH2NRtBw
— Gabriel Toledo (@FalleNCS) June 19, 2019Finn “karrigan” Andersen, mousesport’s captain:
Happy 20th birthday @csgo_dev, been a part of my life since 2001. If it wasn’t for this game, I would probably have a boring job as an accountant right now. I’m living my passion and forever grateful for all the opportunities and experience this game has given me. 😍
— karrigan (@karriganCSGO) June 19, 2019Jason “moses” O’Toole, caster and analyst:
Happy 20th @csgo_dev
It took a while, but I'm glad you finally allowed me to say "I told you so" to my parents.
Been playing this game for all 20 years and some of my greatest friends in life have come from CS esports. Can never thank the game enough for all it's done for me
— Jason O'Toole (@MosesGG) June 19, 2019Jack Ettiene, Cloud9 CEO:
Congrats to @csgo_dev, 20 years and still without a doubt the best spectator esport on the planet. https://t.co/eiPh5QZnhB
— Jack Etienne (@JackEtienne) June 19, 2019
Although CS:GO has been free-to-play since December 2018, Valve still earns money from the game’s cosmetic, like skins or stickers.
The professional scene is more active than ever, with more tournament organizers and teams ready to invest in it. The game has been around for 20 years and yet hasn’t given a sign of slowing down in terms of playerbase and viewership.
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