Is CSGO Available on Xbox?

CSGO was released on Xbox 360 back in August 2012, alongside OSX, PS3, and Windows. While many players likely don’t know this, CSGO originally started as a port for Counter-Strike: Source (CSS) designed specifically for Xbox 360, but later expanded and turned into a full new Counter-Strike game. 

CSGO was previously available to purchase on the Xbox digital storefront but has since been delisted from the store, along with many other old Xbox 360 titles as part of the retirement of the Xbox 360 store and Xbox 360 marketplace, scheduled for the 29th of July 2024 according to Xbox Support. Unfortunately, this means it is no longer possible to purchase CSGO on the storefront.

With CSGO now unavailable and delisted from the Xbox marketplace, you would think that’s the end of it right? Not quite, there are still a couple of ways to play CSGO on Xbox. It’s important to note that while you can still play the game, all official support for CSGO on Xbox has been completely deprecated and the game is no longer being updated.

Now, onto how you can play it – If you already owned the game before it was delisted, you can simply redownload it from your Xbox library and launch it as normal. Here’s how: 

1. Press the Xbox button to open the guide, and then select My Games & Apps > See All.
2. Under Full Library > Owned Games, you’ll see all games that you own with the profile that’s signed in to the console.
3. If a game that you own hasn’t been installed on your console, there’s a download icon on the game title. Selecting the title prompts you to install the game before you can play it.

If you didn’t already own the game before it was delisted, you’ll find the only way you can play CSGO on Xbox is by playing the official demo. If you want to download the CSGO demo and re-experience what it was like to play CSGO on Xbox, here’s how you do it:

1. Visit the Xbox marketplace online on a browser, or via your Xbox device
2. Sign in to your Xbox account
3. Find Counter-Strike: GO on the marketplace, you may need to use a direct link such as this one.
4. Click the “Try Demo” button and download the demo for the game onto your primary Xbox device.

While we can’t know with 100% certainty, it’s incredibly unlikely that CSGO will ever return to Xbox in the future. The game was delisted, and with the release of Counter-Strike 2, CSGO is no longer officially supported on any platform. It’s hard to see why CSGO would ever return to the Xbox marketplace in the future.

However, that doesn’t mean CS as a whole will never return to Xbox consoles or any other consoles for that matter. Now that CS2 has been officially released, there’s a chance they will want to port that to Xbox and other consoles in the future. It’s worth noting that Valve have announced no such plans at this time, so we’ll just have to see where things go from here.

Even though CSGO is deprecated now after being replaced by CS2, you can still play CSGO on your PC. It’s important to keep in mind that it’s no longer officially supported, and according to a Valve FAQ “the game will still be available, but certain functionality that relies on compatibility with the Game Coordinator (eg, access to inventory) may degrade and/or fail. You will also be unable to play any official matchmaking, so you can only play with bots/friends on private servers or community servers.”

If you find yourself wanting to relive the good old days of CSGO, here’s how you can access it and re-download the game on your PC:

1. Install CS2 on Steam
2. Right-click your CS2 install in your Steam library, and press “Properties”
3. In the “Betas” tab, select “csgo_legacy – Legacy version of CSGO” from the “Beta Participation” dropdown menu
4. After completion, your CS2 install will update and show the tag “[csgo_legacy]” by its name in your Library.

After completing the steps above, you will be prompted with a selection menu the next time you launch CS2. Select the “Play Legacy Version of CSGO” to launch CSGO whenever you want to re-live your CS nostalgia.

Unfortunately, it’s safe to say the glory days of CSGO on Xbox are over. While the game is still playable, it is no longer actively supported and likely won’t be a great experience. We recommend sticking to CS2 on PC for your CS needs, at least until we hear any news about a console release. Stay tuned for more CS2 content and guides like this.