Is CS2/CS:GO Free To Play?

The answer is yes. As of 2024, Counter-Strike is a free-to-play game, and will likely be accessible at no cost for the next decade, at least. But, when did CS:GO become free? On December 6, 2018, Valve decided to make a strategic decision to transition their prominent gaming title from a paid model to a free-to-play one. Now, anyone in the world can download and play Counter-Strike through the Steam platform without being greeted with an upfront fee. 

No, Counter-Strike was not free to begin with. The Counter-Strike franchise started with 1.6 and Source before getting into the stages of Global Offensive, and all three games were paid titles. Counter-Strike titles would hover over the $14.99 mark, and were sold directly on the Steam Store. Players would have to pay a one-time purchase system to have complete and lifetime access to the game and its features.

This paid model stayed consistent throughout decades, and became Valve’s primary source of income. At the time, Valve Corporation wasn’t as successful as it is today, and they relied on the financial support from their players to pay the salaries of their developer team to bring in new content for the fanbase.

Why is CS:GO Free to Play Now?

Though Valve was raking in consistent revenue from Counter-Strike game sales, the company made a brilliant business move when they introduced microtransactions to the game; mainly weapon skins adding to Counter-Strikes popularity.

Valve Makes Money Through Skins

In 2013, Valve released weapon skins into the game, which are virtual items that change the visual appearance of your weapons. There are numerous types of skins, each giving distinct looks and designs. These skins are solely for cosmetic purposes and do not provide players with an unfair advantage.

Players could purchase weapon cases and unbox them with a case key costing $2.50. After unboxing a weapon case, players would receive item drops of different rarities, and a rare pull would reward them with huge profit. Since the items are virtual, these keys could infinitely be produced and sold to players who are feeling lucky.

Despite being entirely optional to purchase, the craze for Counter-Strike skins started to rise, as these virtual items were tradable and marketable, giving it real-world value. Players could buy weapon skins from others and sell them again if they started getting bored. The fact that they could always sell or trade a skin away gives these pixels real investment value.

Not only was Valve making money off direct weapon cases and key sales, but they also collected transaction fees on the Steam Community Market ranging up to 15% per transaction. At this point, millions of skins are being bought and sold on the Steam Market daily, so you can imagine how much money Valve was printing.

Weapon skins, cases, and market fees became another income source for Valve, and they didn’t have to depend on their game sales to feed their employees and their families. The introduction of weapon skins played a crucial role in the popularity increase of the game, and it eventually became Valve’s primary revenue stream.

Keeping up With the Competition

During the 2018 period, Valve and Counter-Strike were met with a lot of competing games. There was PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) overtaking Counter-Strike as the most popular realistic shooter game on PC. Both games were under a paid model, so competition wasn’t too terrible for Valve.

However, Fortnite was released shortly after, which is a game that demonstrated a free-to-play model. Young audiences do not have the money to spend on games, which is why kids would download Fortnite and enjoy the game knowing they didn’t have to beg their parents to play it. The battle royale game took the gaming industry by storm, and rapidly became the most popular title in less than a year of its release.

Fortnite could position themselves as a free game because the developers, Epic Games, were making money from in-game purchases such as Battle Passes and most importantly, weapon and character skins.

The truth is Valve had already implemented microtransactions into their game, and the revenue they were generating from Counter-Strike skins was no joke. They quickly realized that putting a $14.99 price tag on top of the millions they were making daily was too greedy and took a toll on Counter-Strike’s accessibility.

Shortly after Fortnite, more developers started releasing free-to-play games such as Apex Legends and Warframe. The pressure became too much for Valve to keep their title as a paid game, and they eventually made the difficult decision to make the game accessible to all players. Valve took a massive risk with this transition, as Counter-Strike had never been a paid game since it was first released.

Reaching a Wider Audience

Becoming a free-to-play game meant that Counter-Strike has become more accessible to any gamer in the world now that there is no requirement for them to pay to play. Financial commitments are no longer required, and players could dive right into the action.

Now that the barrier of entry has been lifted, Valve has essentially allowed a broader audience to play their first-person shooter game. Players from varying backgrounds, regions, and financial situations do not have to worry about paying $14.99 to play the game, which is a lot of money in many countries in the world.

The removal of Counter-Strike’s price tag is a crucial change, as there is a large percentage of gamers who are hesitant to spend money on a game they have not experienced before. These players have been granted full-on access to try the game for however long as they like before committing more time to becoming better at it.

Additionally, Valve has attracted a younger audience to try the game. Kids no longer need to swipe their parent’s credit cards, which creates room for the next generation of players. Previously, these children would have to think twice before buying a game, as they are likely depending on allowances to fund it.

Valve has also developed their intention to reach a broader audience, as the company understands that players from around the world will be trying their game. In preparation for the increase in players, Valve has begun supporting multiple languages and adapting to different regions by creating more game servers.

Valve’s New Monetization Technique: the Prime Status

It is a fact that Counter-Strike has become entirely free-to-play, but there is still a vital in-game purchase that players must think about to enjoy the full experience of the game. After completely deleting their primary revenue source, Valve has revamped the Prime Status, which is a necessary upgrade players must have to ensure they play in high-quality matches.

What Does Prime Status do?

Counter-Strike’s Prime Status is a purchasable upgrade players can buy for $14.99, which conveniently costs the same as Global Offensive’s price tag. The Prime Status provides players with a handful of benefits, such as exclusive matchmaking and weekly item drops. However, the Prime Status is a completely optional purchase, and players can still have access to playing Counter-Strike without it.

The main selling point of the Prime Status is that players can only partake in Counter-Strike’s ranked matchmaking modes if they are protected by the upgrade. Without a Prime Status, players can only play in unranked game modes, such as Causal, Deathmatch, Arms Race, and more. Counter-Strike is popularly known for its Competitive Mode, so you’re missing out on a lot if you decide not to invest the money into a Prime upgrade.

Making Your $14.99 Back

However, paying for Prime isn’t as bad as it sounds. Players with a Prime Status are eligible to receive weekly drops, which can reward them with weapon cases or skins. Weapon cases are generally priced at 20 cents to a dollar, and can immediately be sold on the Steam Marketplace. After grinding the game for months with the Prime Status, your $14.99 investment will eventually be paid off from selling the weapon cases and skins you’ve collected from in-game drops.

It is important to note that the Prime membership is a one-time purchase, and is not some sort of monthly subscription you must renew. You can expect to receive item drops for the rest of your life, so you can imagine how much money you can return from farming item drops. It would have paid off the initial investment and multiple times more.

You Don’t Have to Deal With Cheaters and Griefers

One of the biggest problems with Counter-Strike becoming free is that hackers and griefers can continuously make new accounts and ruin games if their previous ones have been reported and banned.

The Prime Status ensures that players will only be matched against other players who are also protected by Prime. Now, hackers must think twice about making a new account, as they must pay the $14.99 fee to destroy the fun for others.

That being said, playing Counter-Strike matches without the Prime Status can likely place you into matches against non-Prime players, and the odds of meeting cheaters become exponentially higher.

What Are the Impacts of Becoming a Free Game?

After six years of becoming a free-to-play game, here is what Counter-Strike achieved by removing financial barriers to their game.

A Significant Rise in Player Count

Even when it was a paid game, Counter-Strike had always been an extremely popular game. It is pretty obvious that removing the price tag entirely would result in a massive influx of new players. As discussed above, players of different ages, countries, and income groups have received the accessibility to play Counter-Strike for free, fostering a stronger and more diverse community.

The active player base of Counter-Strike had been overtaken by new competitors such as PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) in 2017, but CSGO easily took their throne back after becoming free. Today, Counter-Strike is the most-played game on the entire Steam platform.

Growth of Professional Scene

Counter-Strike has always been a watchable esports, as the game provides fast-paced tactical gameplay that creates a lot of excitement. Since the game follows realistic concepts, Counter-Strike is very easy to understand for viewers who don’t even play the game.

The increased playerbase has been exposed to Counter-Strike’s thriving professional scene, and more players are being attracted to the thrill of watching professional matches and tournaments.

Additionally, the surge of new players creates a small chance that some hidden talents could make a breakthrough in the scene, potentially creating new storylines.

Revenue From Microtransactions and Skins

Though the company lost a massive income source that was made from players purchasing the game, Valve has been generating a ton of revenue from microtransactions, such as the unboxing of weapon cases and the buying and selling of skins on the Steam Market.

Around 700,000 weapon cases are unboxed daily, which would make Valve at least $1.75 million from case keys alone! Let’s not get started about the 15% transaction fee on the Steam Market.

Still, purchasing skins is entirely optional, as they do not give players an unfair advantage. Valve is making money from players who are willing to spend, and not taking advantage of players who aren’t.

Cheating Concerns

Unfortunately, the game being more accessible also benefits cheaters and hackers looking to ruin Counter-Strike matches for others. Since the game is now free, these malicious players can make as many accounts as they’d like.

Still, Valve has provided a reasonable solution, which is the Prime Status. Players can make a one-time $14.99 investment to have their accounts protected by the Prime Status, ensuring they won’t meet hackers as often. Valve has also implemented player reporting systems and performs frequent ban waves to maintain this persistent issue.